Continuing Stargate Atlantis
by Frank Exchange of Views
Summary: An older project looking at how the show may have continued and generally letting me flesh out the Stargate universe a little more. Summary format, now unfortunately dead.
1. SGA 520 The Ashes of Victory

Teaser:

Despite the numerical advantage of the Wraith, the team has wondered many times why Ancient technology could not defeat tem given such powerful tools such as the Asurans and the Arcturus project. When a Wraith in position of a Zero Point Module uses it to upgrade his hive and goes rogue, the reason becomes terrifyingly obvious. As it goes a on a rampage through the Pegasus galaxy, ultimately threatening earth itself, Atlantis must race to put a stop to this threat at any cost.

Episode:

The PA announces an unscheduled off world activation in the background as Banks reports that they have an incoming transmission. It's Todd, of all people, and he's come with a warning, one of his underlings has pulled a coup d'etat and usurped him. Woolsey however asks why they should care, to which Todd replies that it's not the what, but the _how_ they should be worried about.

Later the team is assembled in an informal manner in McKay's lab, where Sheppard is retelling the story. Apparently one of Todd's lieutenants, who they'll call Kenny, was in charge of installing a ZPM on a Hive Ship when he decided to simply keep the fruits of his work to himself, and is now flying around in a ZPM enhanced warship- and Todd wants their help to take it out before it's completed.

The team however, expresses doubts to both the trustworthiness of Todd's claims an the existence of the ZPM, it is after all, a very rare resource. McKay however, speaks up for Todd in this case, saying that the Wraith suffer from terrible power generation, and if this Hive _is_ powered by a ZedPM, then it poses a very serious threat, whether or not it's under Todd's control. Teyla remarks that it is rather odd that he would place himself under their custody if he was playing them.

Ronon doesn't buy it; what if it's all just a big ruse and the Daedalus drops out of hyperspace to face a fully upgraded Hive Ship or a fleet of Hive Ships, if the ZPM doesn't exist?

Sheppard remarks that they don't have to go in guns blazing, they could take a jumper under cloak and investigate first- and just as an extra deterrent, they could take Todd along for the ride. This seems to satisfy Woolsey, who walks out to attend to other business.

Inside one of Atlantis' isolation rooms, Todd is patiently seated, staring into space when Woolsey comes in. Todd remarks that the city is becoming quite familiar to him, almost a retreat from his hectic daily life, it would be a shame to see it destroyed. Woolsey isn't in the mood for threats however, and he gets straight to the point: where did the ZPM come from?

Todd folds his hands in front of him as if preparing to tell a long story and begins, Woolsey will recall that he was able to acquire some in the fleeting moments before the destruction of Asuras. Which Richard says were destroyed when Shepard and his team blew up his cloning facility. But Todd reveals that they were not the only ones in his possession; how many is not important, Woolsey has no way of verifying anyways. As to why now of all times? He explains that Wraith organic technology creates certain compatibility issues, a problem he'd assigned his best to solve, however the underling turned on him and… here he is. He warns Richard that the Hive is still unfinished, and if they strike now they may destroy it, before it's systems are fully adapted and it becomes night _unstoppable_.

Later on the Daedalus, Shepard walks into a spartan brig where Todd's been locked away; upon which Todd immediately remarks on the ridiculousness of the crew jumpsuit he's been made to wear. Shepard however is not in the mood for banter, and remarks on all their previous dealings, where things always went south because of that one little detail Todd forgot to mention, if there's something he's left something out this time, John says, there won't _be_ a next time.

As the Dedalus drops out of hyperspace, Shepard and his team are ready to go in a jumper, they'll report back on a secure subspace channel when their in range.

Under cloak they rocket towards the Hive ship undetected. Inside, McKay remarks that the ship is giving off enormous amounts of waste energy, through he's no sure whether it's a ZedPM from this far out. As they get closer, McKay frowns, it seems the Hive Ship is growing both a thicker _and_ denser outer hull, if they keep it up, soon it will be all but impenetrable to energy weapons fire. Suddenly, the Hive powers weapons and fires a shot, closely missing the Jumper. Apparently their sensors have gotten better too, and Shepard begins evasive maneuvers, trying to buy them more time.

As he avoids one shot, another hits them and sends the jumper out of control, easy targets for the Wraith ship who fires and- the shots are blocked by the Deadalus who flies past decelerating.

Shepard thanks Caldwell for the save, and the balding captains orders full power to the Asgard beams, firing long streaks of energy at the Hive. Marks reports that they've done minimal damage, and Caldwell orders rail guns and missiles on target, they'll hit them with everything they've got; but he doesn't get to finish as Marks reports a lot of incoming weapons fire.

The hive fires it's guns at the Deadalus in succession, a massive staggered volley that flies through space diagonally and impacts dead on the battle cruiser's shields. On the bridge, several consoles spark as damage reports flood in from all over the ship. Caldwell yells to get them out of there but marks says they can't- the hyperdrive's offline- and the Wraith are powering weapons again.

Realizing the battle is lost, and their stranded, Caldwell orders a collision course, arming all the nukes.

Inside the jumper the team is watching the Daedalus turn towards the Hive ship with confused expressions when Caldwell's voice comes over the radio, he tells Shepard to get out of there, if he can get out of range, the Wraith won't be able to track him, and; as a storm of missiles erupts from the ship's VLS cells, he asks Shepard to tell his wife and kids…that he's sorry; it's been an honor. The channel cuts off abruptly and the team is left to stare in shock as the ship that's always been there for them, blocking that final shot, ever ready to spring them out of a tight spot, and faithful companion to Atlantis, breathes one last defiant gasp. It's final moments, before a volley of energy bolts tears it apart down the middle and scatters it's bones, illuminated by a titanic nuclear firestorm.

A shot narrowly misses the jumper and Shepard returns hastily to the controls. Gunning the throttle, the jumper races way in evasive loops while darts begin picking over the remnants of the once mighty Daedalus. Not that it'll do them any good McKay remarks, all the databases are purged automatically in this kind of situation.

A while later, the jumper is silent, the team asleep on whatever flat surfaces are available, through avoiding the area around what we realize is a small enclosed chemical toilet. Suddenly the jumper beeps an alarm. Ronon is awake instantly, years on the run having made him a light sleeper, he shakes Shepard awake and others begin waking up. As he takes a seat at the controls and brings up the HUD, the jumper's picked up a ship closing fast. As Shepard prepares for what may be his last flight, a familiar vice hails them over the radio. It's Larin, the Traveler who kidnapped Shepard some time prior to get her new Aurora class warship working. As the jumper turns, the twin hulled profile of a Traveler generation ship comes into view, opening it's hangar bay doors.

Inside Larin wrinkles her nose as the jumper door slides down. Everyone piles out of the tiny craft, taking in a breath of the comparatively fresh air aboard the generation ship. Shepard makes his way to the front and thanks Larin for the timely rescue. She says his people got worried when they didn't get any word back, so they sent her to check it out, so what happened? Shepard says he's explain on the way, they need to get to the closest Stargate as soon as possible, he has urgent information for Atlantis.

The team plus Woosley are assembled for debriefing in the conference room some time later. Shepard explains how the upgraded Hive Ship completely steamrolled the Daedalus despite not even being finished. Given that it shrugged off a full powered blast from an Asgard energy weapon, it's unlikely that other Hives will have much luck taking down their new competition. Woosley says that he's right, their already receiving reports of mass culling by a rogue Hive, shooting anyone that tries to stop it out of the sky. what he's concerned about however, is the nature of the culling, entire planets are being wiped clean of habitation with no regard to sustainability, it's as if their stocking up so to speak. McKay interrupts with rapid snaps of his fingers that signal an epiphany, the Hive has access to enormous amounts of power, with it they can boost their hyper drive by just overdosing it with power, without the need to more sophisticated energy efficient drives that they would otherwise require to cross the galactic void.

Woosley however doesn't buy it, why would they go out there when it was very possible that whatever galaxy they reached would be devoid of compatible life. McKay points out the fact that it was going over the remains of the Daedalus, it's possible that they got a very vague idea of Earth's location, not exact coordinates, but maybe the right galaxy- it's the only explanation he can come up with for the Hive's odd behavior or… more owrrienly, they might have it's exact location from he time Todd hijacked the Daedalus.

Ok, so what do they do about it asks Sheppard? The Daedalus barely scratched the thing's armor, and now it's had more time to adapt and grow, Earth's combined fleet is unlikely to score a victory over that sort of defense, they would have to wait for it to jump to Earth to use the Antarctic weapons platform by which time it could have wreaked unaccountable devastation thought Pegasus, and that might not even be enogh to destroy it.

Unfortunately the sate of the Pegasus galaxy is not something the IOA cares about unless it profits them Woosley concedes, he's already contacted Earth and their not willing to risk another 304 on a mission to take out the Hive. He will contact Earth again to appraise them of the threat of the Hive reaching the Milky Way, but he doubts they would reconsider. For the moment, Woosley agrees with them, if for no other reason it's because they don't have the means to do anything, all they can do is watch and wait for an opportunity.

Unless; McKay interjects, they have one ace up their sleeve. Atlantis is a mobile Drone Platform, it would take all three of Earth's ZPMs, but unlike the Antarctic outpost, their heavily shielded and armed at the same time, so they can take the hits, and they would have the advantage of surprise.

Woosley says he'll add that to his communiqué, in the meantime, they should get some rest, they've had a long few days and the team gets up more animatedly now that they have the prospect of action to think about, instead of standing there and waiting for something to happen.

They take their trays from the cafeteria to eat outside with McKay saying how famished he is for something not MRE when Sheppard notices Larin, with marine escort, eating at a table. Seeing him she motions for him to take a seat, asking whether the military escort was really necessary. She's not blindfolded or tied up is she? He replies.

He'd been expecting her to be gone by now, motioning for his team to take a seat at her table. She replies that she's not leaving until they tell her what's going on, Human ships are amongst the most powerful she's ever seen in action, yet she picked up debris consistent with wreckage from one near the location she picket them up at, and now her sources tell her, four Hives have been found destroyed around the galaxy, mostly around what used to be worlds with large human populations.

Wreckage? McKay asks, what sort of wreckage did she find? Not much, she admits, it looked like somebody beat them to the salvage, and not one of their of their units either she assumes since they were stranded?

Teyla says they may as well tell her, it's not like the information is of a sensitive nature, so McKay explains again. As McKay's finishing, Woolsey contacts Sheppard, the Odyssey is away on some secret mission, they don't have enough ZPMs to get the city off the ground, there's nothing they can do at the moment.

Shepard thanks Woolsey for informing him and cuts the link, digging into his food angrily.

Shepard catches Woolsey in the control room, dressed in full off world gear. The only ZPM they know of with certainty, is the one in the possession of the New Brotherhood. Richard however isn't so certain, didn't the Brotherhood go underground after they helped them retrieve the ZPM? Yes, replies Sheppard, but while it's a long shot, it beats doing nothing, he'd like permission to take his team to Degan to start looking for clues as to their whereabouts. Woolsey reluctantly gave him the go ahead and orders Chuck to dial Degan as Shepard moves to join his team on the embarkation area, but Chuck never gets to finish the dial out. The gate activates and kawooshes, the shield automatically being raised, Chuck says he's getting SG-3's IDC, should he lower the shied? They may be early muses Woolsey, but if they have an emergency, why aren't they transmitting? he tells Chuck to lower the shield anyways. After a few seconds, a metal canister rolls through the event horizon and stops in the middle of the room, the gate deactivating behind it. Fearing the worst, Shepard yells for the shield to be collapsed around the gate room, just like they did earlier when they were forced to contain the explosion of the Strargate (The Lost Tribe). However the metal canister doesn't seem to be doing anything at all, just... lying there.

McKay rushes to the control room and starts typing away at one of the laptops, he'll see if he can redirect the internal sensors, maybe they can get a clear picture of what's inside the thing… then he stops, that can't be right. He runs another sweep, checking for biological or chemicals contaminants but comes up clear, so in a rare example of reckless bravery, he goes through the shield and picks up the canister despite his team mates shouts, screwing the cap off to reveal something that silences all their protests. Taking the object fully out of it's container, he reveals a ZedPM. As Woosley orders the shield lowered, the team rush around, looking at the Ancient device more closely, he notices a unsigned note tied to it, stating, in long cursive writing "Bonne Chance". Confused, Teyla asks what it means, to which Sheppard replies that it says "good luck" in French, an Earth language that no one in Pegasus should know how to speak.

Ever practical, Ronon asks where did it come from? They have no way of knowing however, any gate in the galaxy could have been used to send it, and, McKay speculates, it may not have even come from the galaxy they know, there have been instances of using the Stargate to send things and even people through time (The Last Man).

Woolsey is not as happy to see it as the rest, he tells McKay to check it in every possible way to ascertain it isn't some sort of trap, a free ZPM is too good to be true. Muttering to the affirmative, McKay goes off, cradling the ZPM like it's some sort of mechanical child.

Perhaps now, if the ZPM checks out, Shepard says, Earth will send them the Antarctic ZPM?

A week later the Apollo jumps out of hyperspace in orbit over New Lantia. In the city, Woosley welcomes Ellis over the radio. Onboard the 304, Ellis informs him with a grin that Christmas has come early this year.

Inside the ZPM room, McKay is pacing restlessly much to Zalenka's chagrin, when a marine detail walks in with the ZPM.. Readying the final one besides the two others, already set on the pedestal; the "gift" has obviously checked out; he asks Zelenka to start the sequence.

In the control room, Woosley asks McKay if they're ready, to which he replies they need a little time to make sure everything's in order. Woosley tells him to hurry up, they've just received word: the super Hive is headed for Balora, formerly known to us as Eldred's planet, the home of the only other city ship they know of. It's likely that Kenny believes he can overcome it's defenses with his new Hive, and take it's advanced technology for himself.

And now that it's ZedPM is depleted, it's completely defenseless, McKay finished, he'll get on right away. In the meantime Woolsey asks Amelia to put him on the PA, he informs the city that they will be taking off shortly to engage the Super Hive, all non essential personnel are to evacuate to the Alpha Site, where most of their belongings have been stored by now, and all department heads are to make their way to the conference room.

In the chair room, Mckay's telling Shepard over the radio that he'll be monitoring his progress from the control room, the city's defense grid is ready, it's up to him now. Muttering that the time is long overdue for a counterattack, Shepard closes his eyes and activates the chair, beginning the city's takeoff sequence. Beginning to turn, the control chair is bathed in light as the star drive warms up, and outside, the ocean around the city starts steaming around the raised shield.

As Shepard concentrates, the star drive flares, and from a distance, Atlantis climbs into the sky, the city's drives flare and rises on a column of light, sending out a wave of water and steam racing away form it's previous location and enveloping the camera.

The Super Hive, now completely covered in a thick layer of armor, slowly approaches a blue green jewel that subtitles identify as Balora. As it inches closer to the little world, a wave of dart departs, no doubt to test it's defenses before the Hive engages.

On the planet's surface, a young boy is looking up at the stars, when he notices a few getting brighter and brighter. As they rocket across the sky, we realizes that these are energy bolts from the Hive ship, carving out huge craters all around the central tower, apparently targeting the dormant city ship's drone launchers. In the distance, the trademark whine of Dart engines becomes apparent as they race to cull the population. Their scans of the city complete. Suddenly however, they break off, their whine disappearing high into the sky. Following them with his eyes, the boy sees two particularly bright light in the sky, exchanging smaller bolts.

In orbit, Atlantis is a deadly angel glowing by the light of the moon reflecting off it's shield, trading clusters of drones for volleys of energy fire with the Hive Ship. In the control room McKay tells Shepard not to go skimping on him, swarm the bastard, their shield is down half a percent already, their wasting precious energy. Turning to his console, he tells Sheppard to aim for the dart bays, sending targeting information now…

As Atlantis pounds away at the enemy, the darts engaged in culling are finally closing and opening fire with their weak energy canons, like mosquitoes attacking a rhino. Limited as their effect is, it's completely shattered when they move to intercept some of the drones headed for their mother ship- as they rise above Atlantis' "waterline" where they're cut down by the city's railguns, whose fire is far more deadly now, apparently having been networked together.

Telling his faceless enemy to 'have a nice time in hell' Shepard lets loose with a torrent of drones, three columns rising from the city's drone launchers, breaking up and reforming to avoid the Hive's fire, which now seems of a more defensive nature, trying to vaporize as many drones as it can. As the vanguard of the done force slams through the dart bay doors, the hive's engines flare and it turns drastically- in a split second, it's pointing straight at Atlantis as it engages it's hyperdrive and disappears.

The force of the gravitic wave makes the city quake, forcing the control room staff to hang on to something, before McKay announces their Ok, nothing's broken.

In the chair room, Shepard is pissed, can Atlantis follow them? Checking the long range sensors, McKay says he's not sure…wait… yes. They've dropped out of hyperspace, while it's unlikely their hyper drive was hit, maybe a few power conduits were severed, their relatively dead in the water- for a short while anyways, before they repair it.

"So what are we waiting for?" Asks Sheppard, "go get them".

On the planet, the little boy watches bright star in the sky that's Atlantis flickers and disappears, just as the first of the debris from the battle begins reentering the atmosphere, creating a dazzling meteor shower.

The Super Hive floats basked in red light above a red giant. Debris trials off from it's hull and two of it's cruiser hooks have been torn off altogether. Urgent repairs are obviously under way when Atlantis drops out o hyperspace underneath it. Silhouetted by the red star behind it. It's shield catches the red light, wreathing the dark heart of the snowflake in a halo of fire. It is an avenging angel, a harbinger of death and retribution. Even the light in the chair room has changed from a pure white to a bloodier pink as Shepard opens a channel to the enemy ship, asking who's in charge. The Wraith commander angrily snarls to who he's speaking to. Who? Sheppard asks. He is the angel of vengeance, here to pay back the Wraith for all the pain an suffering they've caused, and he would like to know who's in charge, so he can tell them to the face, that they will die without honor, without dignity. They will be hunted down and killed like pack animals, their remains will burn in the heart of the sun beneath them till it goes dark, their end, forgotten forever, save as an emphasis to Atlantis' victory today. The Wraith snarls in fury and yells at his subordinates to open fire.

Shepard replies in kind, long columns of drones rising from he city, weaving and dodging darts and weapons fire as they streak towards the Hive ship. Hundreds, if not thousands of them create an orange firestorm that thunders towards their enemy as their yellow light mixes with the red one of the star.

The Hive shudders and heaves as the full might of Lantian war fighting technology smashes into it. On the bridge, the Wraith commander snarls at his subordinates in anger, yelling at them to get them out of there, his blind fury towards the Humans dampened by the fact that his ship was being destroyed around him.

In the control room, McKay radios Sheppard telling him that he's detecting a build up of energy, they are trying to engage their hyper drive. Shepard tells him not to worry, their not getting away this time.

As the flicker of a hyperspace windows form and collapse in front of the Wraith Hive Ship, the city's star drive flares and they begin rising rapidly towards the Wraith ship. McKay asks Sheppard what he's doping, when he doesn't respond, he yell it out, as the two ships continue to close on a collision course. Shepard frowns in concentration, the contrasting blue and pink lights from the chair and overhead lights lending him an unnatural appearance as the city closes the space between him and the enemy, tilting the city edge on to the Hive.

Just as a stable hyperspace window begins forming, Atlantis slams into the Hive, edge on into it's top; forcing it's ends up. The two titans seem to float suspended there for a second, locked in eternal battle. The organic amour begins to stretch under the stress, then with a resounding crack heard through the city because the two ships are touching, a fissure at the bottom of the Hive rips open and the entire structure _snaps_, allowing Atlantis to continue on her thundering course as the two halves are consumes in fire form secondary explosions, killing the Wraith commander as he bellows his rage.

Inside the city, everything is unnaturally quiet as they watch the remnants of their foe cascade all around them, things and people having been scared all about by the shock of ramming the Hive. Then suddenly somebody starts clapping, and everyone begins cheering and hugging each other in happiness. Sheppard lets out a sight on the chair and the lighting returns to normal.

McKay and Zaelenka exchange a hug before realizing what their doing and breaking it off quickly, which is all the same, as a beep from the console draws McKay, he yells at everyone n the control room to quiet down... their receiving a transmission… he'll see if he can see where it's coming from. Searching through the debris, the finds the source to be a Dart, heading towards the city. Putting it up on screen he can't help stare open mouthed. It's Todd, assumed dead with the Daedalus. The Wraith scientist seems amused by this and explains that his compartment retained pressure after the Daedalus was destroyed and he survived by going into hibernation, to be retrieved by his underling and... having gone through a few rounds of excruciating questioning before their battle allowed him to escape. Not that it will do him any good, Shepard interrupts over the radio. That's the last time people die because of his inaccurate information. On Atlantis's screen, three icons begin heading towards the dart at high speed.

Todd nervously tells John not to do anything rash now, the Hive ship was far more powerful than he could ever have suspected, the destruction of the Daedalus wasn't his fault.

Then why did he of all people survive? Asks Sheppard. It's Woolsey that steps in on Todd's behalf, saying softly that sometimes, bad things happen to good people. They need Todd, he's their only contact inside the Wraith, and his alliance stands to crumble without him, depriving them of the only wiling test subject for the retrovirus. He asks Sheppard to stand down, eying the screen as the drones approach the Dart…

In space, Todd grimaces and turns aside as the drones streak towards him- and swerve around the dart, decelerating to match speed with it. Breathing out a sight of relief, Todd says an escort really isn't needed, but it's fine as the three drones form up around the Dart.

As they clear the shield, the city's drives flare once again and it disappears into hyperspace.

Later on, McKay and Shepard are walking along a corridor in Atlantis dressed in black, and Shepard is asking why they moved _ again. _Well, since they were already airborne, and Todd knew Atlantis's past location, they decided it was safer to disappear once again. So what are they going to name this planet? New New Lantia? Ah well, that can wait, the memorial starts in a few minutes.

Sheppard join the sting of military heads and Rodney goes over with the rest of the civilians as the military memorial begins in the Gateroom. The US flag is folded, Woolsey says his little speech, honoring the men and women of the Daedalus, and finally Lorne and Sheppard take the reef and pass it into the Stargate.

Meanwhile on some far flung desert world, Todd approaches what seems to be a wall of solid rock- and passes right through, revealing a dark cave. Moving further inside, we come up on a multitude of equipment and devices stacked on either side of the cave, evidently some sort of cache. Suddenly he stops and sniffs the air, rushing forwards he stops when he sees his secret hideaway has been ransacked, screaming his rage at the world, he gabs the nearest box and shatters it against the wall. The form fitting foam in one of the empty boxes makes it al too obvious that his last ZPM has been stolen.

Production Notes:

This episode was born out of my dislike for the weakness Atlantis demonstrated in the original Enemy At The Gate and the ridiculously convenient subspace message detailing Earth's coordinates and defenses.


	2. SGA 601 The Christmas Intruder

6.01 The Christmas Intruder

Christmas has come to Atlantis, and the control room is decorated with green and red ribbons, culminating a giant Christmas tree placed right behind the gate while Chuck sports a festive Santa hat as he goes about his duties humming. In the mess hall, holiday tunes play in the background as Amelia tries to explain the whole purpose of the celebration to Teyla, with occasional help from Radek, who's joined them. Apparently this is the first time the city's really got into the spirit of the holidays.

In the infirmary Rodney is catching Keller as she gets off duty to ask her to dinner.

Inside a workshop on Atlantis, a few scientists and engineers are processing another captured Wraith Dart to the sound of holiday jingles when one cries out. There's somebody inside the buffer! Eager to let the hapless person out, one gets into he cockpit and plugs his tablet in, activating all the systems including the canopy. After keying the release for the culling beam, he's about to climb out when a loud shrill accompanies the screams of this colleagues with a merry backdrop of Christmas jingles.

Shepard collapses on the textured metal top that marks the outer limit of the city and takes a gulp from his water bottle. Around him a group of marines, including Lorne seem to be doing the same, Ronon stands conspicuously in their midst, not even tired. Lorne collapses next to John and complains, totally out of breath, about the unfairness of it all, when a radio call interrupts him.

Woolsey tells Shepard to get back, a technician called in, frightened crazy, apparently his team found a life sign in a dart's buffer, decided to let it out, he jumped into cockpit, then shortly later started hearing screams from outside, so he hunkered down and called for help.

Maybe the Dart was transporting a Wraith? Lorne speculates, after donning his earpiece.

Shepard contacts Teyla and informs her, asking whether she senses anything. In her own quarters, she hands Torren to Kanan before concentrating; no she doesn't sense any Wraith within the city. What's going on?

They don't now yet, but it looks like trouble. Can she meet them?

The marines storm the lab to find equipment strewn all over the place, as if slammed out of something's way, the mess oddly discordant with the cheerful tunes. Shepard, dressed in tactical gear over his t-shirt radios the tech to open the canopy, they're in the lab.

The young man climbs out shakily and identifies himself as Steven Ross, looking around the lab at the smashed equipment, asks what happened to his people?

Lorne does comment that there are no bodies. It's unlikely a Wraith would have dragged away that many hostages. Shepard radios McKay, who's already in the control room, grumpy form having his date interrupted, asking him to access the internal sensors and look for any alien life signs. But as Rodney brings up the appropriate data, Chuck says they have a problem with the power supply, there's a structural breach underway into the main power trunk. Then he yells it's gotten inside the main power trunk!

The lights suddenly flickers and go out, plunging the control room into pre-storm darkness before coming back online. Chuck says the city's disconnected the ZPMs, their running on naqudah generators. McKay tells John and his team to head to the ZPM room immediately, he'll join them there to see what's happened.

In the ZPM room, Radek is slaving over a computer connected to the central console, where the three ZPMs rest conspicuously out of the niches. Rodney and Sheppard walk in, his team taking guard outside. According to Radek, the diagnostics point to a massive breach of containment in the city's main power trunk, directly beneath them. They decide to manually inspect the place now that the power's down anyways.

The two, plus Shepard and guard, look over a dimly illuminated shaft, with catwalks linking the walls to the center, no rails separating people form a very long fall down.

Remarking on the remarkable lack of common sense of the Ancients in some areas, Rodney hesitantly steps out on the narrow walkway and starts making his way across to the central ledge, where there are obvious signs of damage, in the form of twisted antennas and broken crystals.

Wrinkling his nose, Zalenka remarks that this place shouldn't smell like it does, McKay agrees, it smells like burn meat. If some kind of creature wondered in here while the system was operational, it would have been zapped with gigajoules of electricity from the city's electro-laser conduits. Looking down he says whatever's left is probably smoking down at the bottom. That was a quick end to this particular adventure.

As the technicians get to work, Shepard gets a worrying call from Woolsey, a scientist called in a few seconds ago, screaming for help, before the transmission abruptly cut out. Fearing there may have been two of the beasts, Shepard advises Woolsey to initiate a lockdown, they can trap it where it is and use the city's sensors to find it.

On that front, Zalenka says he's not picking up any alien life signs, and Rodney, there's nothing at the bottom of the main power trunk, he's looking at live footage right now.

If the Wraith found something that could evade sensors and survive lightning strikes, it would explain why they wanted to bring it back for study, Shepard muses. But McKay doesn't buy it, it would take something along the lines of a Faraday cage to hide an organism's bioelectrical signature form Atlantis' sensors. However as he finishes, the lights flicker once more. In the control room, chuck says they've lost one of the naqudah generators.

Shepard orders a few of his men to stay here, and takes the others to go check it out.

If the organism is targeting their power supplies, could it be another Shadow Creature, Chuck speculates over the radio, like the one accidentally released shortly after they occupied the city? It fits, McKay answers, but it doesn't explain the physical damage seen in the power trunk, through it's the best explanation they have. He radios Shepard and informs him, telling him to proceed with extreme caution. But this makes Shepard pause: shut down all the city's power, and relocate on generator to one of the hazmat rooms, they lure the creature in and trap it in the hazmat room's force field.

Unless it just sucks up all the force field's power directly, Rodney complains but lacking a better idea he's overridden and sent to set up the right equipment grumbling.

Teyla meets up with them as they make their way towards the hazmat room, just as McKay greets them from the other direction., the generator is set, now they should high tail it out of there. However they stop dead in their tracks when they head a commotion straight ahead, before an absolutely huge, rust red, scorpion like creature scuttles into view with a clanking gait.

Not wasting any breath, everyone but the un-armed McKay open fire, but the bullets bounce off with sparks, while Ronon's energy blasts don't seem to affect it much. The attack however does scare the creature away and it scurries out of there with remarkable speed, it's long whip like tail trashing behind it, closely followed by Sheppard & Co, Rodney inquiring loudly why their running _towards_ the giant alien?

As it pauses to smash and pry open a closed door with an enormous show of strength, the team catches up. Out of ammo, Shepard jumps it, closely followed by Ronon, while Teyla and McKay stand back, unable to get a clear shot.

While Ronon tries to tie down it's tail, Sheppard suddenly find himself under it's massive pincers, holding them off from a fatal bite that would mostly likely severe his head. But Teyla comes to his rescue, pistol wiping it in the mandible. Using the distraction, Shepard wiggles his way out and back into a corner where it's wide mandibles can't quite get at him. Taking out a knife, he strikes at it, but the weapon only dents it's skin and produces a dull thud.

Standing back, McKay yells to Shepard to "go for the eyes', but Shepard shoots back that it doesn't _have_ any eyes. However Mckay's comment is silenced as Teyla is thrown backwards by the creature, and McKay is forced to catch her, falling over backwards himself.

Ronon's grapple with it is similarly ended when the creatures trips him and knocks him backwards. At which point a critical component to the door seem to fail, because it comes open with sudden ease and Shepard throws himself on top of the creature as it flees.

Watching the last flicker of it's tail disappear around the corner, McKay yells into the radio asking what does Shepard think he's doing!

Trying to get a good grip on the creature, who's constantly bucking to try and shake him off, he tells him that they'll lose it again since the internal sensors can't track it. But suddenly he loses his grip as the creature switches over to scurrying along the wall, and then the ceiling, and Sheppard falls off painfully.

As the three catch up to him, they radio Woolsey and tell him to put basic power back on, but to station armed guards with armor piercing ammunition outside the generators. Speaking of which, McKay says, when they shot it, he could swear it's exoskeleton was made of metal, that's why the bullets bounced off with a spark. And further to that, since the exoskeleton is metal and more or less hermetic, it would act as an impromptu Faraday cage, thus masking it's life signs form the internal sensors, he finished smugly, pleased with himself.

All very well, says a female voice over the radio, but he's missing the big question: why does it have a metal exoskeleton?

In the control room, a petite Eurasian woman in her early thirties, with a prominent sun tan, probably from working in the field a lot introduces herself as Dr. Amelia Soong: astro-zoologist. Now, if they want to find the creature, they just have to find out what environment it's from, it will be drawn towards the familiar. That however may not be necessary, Radek points out, he's reconfigured the internal sensors to look for motion and heat signatures that have no bioelectrical trace, so they should find it quit quickly, he presses a few keys on his laptop and a schematic of the city shows up on one of the crystal screens. However after a few seconds of staring, Woolsey asks what their supposed to be looking at? Radek seem confused and check his laptop, nothing's wrong with the sensors, their just not defecting anything… maybe it's a programming error, he pushes his glasses further up his nose as he begins looking over his work.

Well, remarks Woolsey, it looks like they'll have to do this the old fashioned way, he tells Shepard to ready his marines, their going to have to sweep the city the old fashioned way. Shepard isn't so confident, the city's huge, he doesn't have enough men for anything close to a good sweep, but McKay says thy may be able to narrow down the area, he asks Zalenka to check for transient contact, doors that were forced open, for example. Zalenka says that the last one was on the south-west pier. There, now they just have to rig a perimeter around the pier and when anything gets close they can follow it, freeing them of the need to set up a guards so they can put more men into hunting the creature down.

Shepard's impressed, that was an uncommon display of military practicality on McKay's part, he must be rubbing off. Woolsey says that first, Shepard's will have to help evacuate that pier, he doesn't want any more casualties. Soong however says she has to get down there, she needs to see this thing in person if she wants to get any real information. Woolsey won't hear of it, however the good doctor insists that she's deal with all sorts of animals, granted, on Earth, but that still makes her more experienced in the area than everyone there, this creature was probably taken from the environment it's used to, it's probably scared and panicky, that's probably why it's so aggressive, she asks Woolsey to give her a shot, one shot, at capturing it without killing it, they could learn _so much_. Woolsey gives her one shot, that's it, and the safety of his people is first priority, if it threatens that, Shepard has permission to kill it without hesitation.

Shepard meets Soong as she merges form a transport booth, hauling a portable cooler. Answering their inquisitive looks, she explains it's meat, dosed with a hefty amount of varied tranquilizers.

She's going to try and _feed _it? McKay exclaims. Well yes, tranquilizer darts won't work with the metal skin.

She asks McKay if he could do her a favor and grab the other end of the cooler. But why him, he whines. Because he looks the least likely to save their lives, she tells him much to the others' amusement, and he's obliged to assist a lady. Grumbling about unfair exploitation, he does as instructed and the four head off.

As they walk along, she inquires more about the creature, it's behavior and appearance. On one hand it seems it's attracted to energy, electricity specifically, since it seems it chewed through the power cords of the naquadah generators and the Lantian power conduits use channeled lightning to distribute power, on the other hand it's immune to energy weapons and going from it's strength it probably comes form a high G planet. It has no eyes correct?

Shepard replies to the affirmative. But if it doesn't use sight, which is an incredibly universal sense, having evolved independently on countless occasion, what does it use to navigate, and why would such a useful sense have been foregone?

Maybe it's very dark where it comes from, Ronon suggests, not really caring.

Aright Shepard says, time to split up, their not getting anywhere like this. Soong stops him, what about the deal? She gets a shot to capture it unharmed first. And she will, Sheppard assures her, one they find it, they'll herd it towards her. In a scared and very angry conditions she counters- almost useless for capture. Well it's better than waiting for it to come to them, which is pretty unlikely at the moment, Shepard shoots back. After a brief standoff, she reluctantly nods and they split up.

Ronon runs along one of the overhead gantries used by him and Shepard for jogging, checking the ground below him.

Teyla is cautiously advancing through the dark underbelly of the pier, carefully holding her G-16 instead of the usual P-90.

Shepard meanwhile stalks low among the bright glass and metal surface of the pier, it's skyscrapers shooting up around him. Tense, he swings around a corner, gun poised, but there's nothing there. Lowering his weapon he moves on cautiously, walking with a slight crouch underneath the archway. As he emerges o the other side and looks around, the first storm clouds move in overhead and cast their shadow over his position, and panning overhead, we see the creature edge it's way over the railing above him…

As the creatures prepares to spring, Shepard tenses- and spins around opening fire, sparks flying off the railing as the creature retreats in a hurry. Radioing the rest of his people, he takes off in pursuit, holding his gun out in front of him and he pumps his legs.

As he hears this, McKay's face falls and hold his own G-36 more tightly, putting the cooler down, he tells the astro-zoologist to get ready.

As the multiple points of gunfire come closer, evidently the marines trying to scare it into going where they want it, Soong looks around, thinking, then takes large chuck of meat form the container and throws the rest of it's contents, mostly blood and guts over the floor, backing up was McKay does the same. She tells him to make himself scarce, she doesn't want it feeling threatened. As he curses and tries to hide, a commotion is heard ahead, and she radios Shepard to keep him mean firing, but moving away from their position, like they've given up.

The creature stops as it reaches the field of blood spread out by Soong, then perks up as it becomes aware of her. Crouching to appear small, she inches forward, and slowly, slides the meat across, muttering encouragements. It seems responsive, as it picks at it with it's mandibles, but suddenly rears up hissing and snapping it's mandibles- only to be shot at by McKay. Now very angry, the creature spins around in confusion, knocking over Soong as it tries to pinpoint it's attacker, before it's tails whips across McKay, throwing the gun out of his hand. Suddenly turning on him, it crouches, ready to spring, but scurries off as it's peppered by a dozen shots.

Letting out an enormous sight of relief, McKay sinks to the floor, thanking Soong, but he thought she'd be he least likely to hurt that thing. She says that she's worked with enough animals to know when their really dangerous and it's time to get out a big stick.

Lorne arrives on the scene closely followed by Sheppard, who's about to ask what happen when Woolsey calls again, the creature's been spotted crossing their sensor perimeter, their tracking it now and it looks like it's heading for the infirmary. McKay's eyes widen at this turn of events and he takes off, closely followed by the rest in an odd reversal of roles.

In the infirmary, Keller receives an urgent call from an out of breath McKay to get out of there _now_, there's a angry alien on it's way. Eyes widening, she tells her two assistants to get out while she moves her one unconscious patient out on a gurney. Wheeling it through the now deserted halls, she stops when she hears a clocking sound rapidly approaching. She quickly reverses direction, trying to be as quiet as possible, however the sound seems to follow her, and she backs into the nearest room, waiting for it to pass. However as she closes the door, the creature pauses, then to her horror begins trying to pry it open. Looking around for anything to use as a weapon, she comes up with nothing, the room's just an empty cupboard. Thinking quickly, she opens one of the smaller walk in closets sometimes found in Ancient rooms and drags the unconscious man into it, stuffing him inside and mutter it's for his own good, then closing it.

Looking around one last time for anything she missed, she assures herself there isn't, so the presses herself up against the side of the door and listening to the repeated ramming of the creature on the other side, open it suddenly. Taken unaware it blunders right in, and Keller slips out, giving it a kick to get it's attention, then running for her life, hoping to distract if from the man in the closet.

Glancing over her shoulder and seeing the creature rapidly gaining, she ducks into the nearest room, a chemistry lab, and locks the door. Without any other way out, she grabs a few flasks of chemicals and ducks down to hide behind the workstations.

As the scorpion finally works it's metal claws into the wedge of the door and pries it open, it advances cautiously into the room, the smell of it's prey overlaid with that of other chemicals. Leaping on top of the workstations, it snaps it's mandibles frustrated, then advances- and Keller leaps out from under the tables and throws her flasks at it, sending it into a fit of rage, it's tail thrashing and breaking even more vials and dripping their contents on Keller as she crawls along underneath the tables, springing out the door.

Running the length of the hall and around the corner she catches sight of Rodney and Co barreling towards her, and slows down gratefully, allowing them to catch up.

Rodney also slows and the two sigh relieved, before Keller's eyes go wide as the scorpion's tail wraps around her midsection and she's pulled around the corner screaming. McKay screams and rushes after with everyone in tow but by the time they round the corner, the only thing they find is broken window, through which they catch one last glimpse of the creature as it round the corner of the building's outer surface.

In the control room, Zalenka gets a call from McKay practically yelling at him to get trace on Keller's subcutaneous transmitter, quickly explaining what happened. Zalenka however says that's unnecessary, he's finished the modifications to the internal sensors and has tracked the creature to it's layer on top of the secondary control tower on top of the south-west pier, and there are another four life signs there besides it.

Well what are they waiting for? McKay asks? They should go get them! But Soong tells him to get a hold of himself, if this creature's created a home for itself here, it will defend it, making it more dangerous than ever. But she can't be in any more danger than she's already in! He yells. Soong grabs him by the collar and asks him how much he knows about animal behavior? They'll have to lure it away first, then mount a rescue, she explains. Seeing Rodney's calmed down somewhat, she lets go of his collar, which was rather difficult given her height, and drops off her tiptoes. It's attracted to electricity, so they'll need to set up something truly irresistible, now that it knows their hunting it.

Rodney suggests they could rupture a secondary power conduit, that should make plenty of lightning, which seems to be what it's most drawn to. Adding to that, Shepard says to do it somewhere confined, once it's down there, they can corner it and kill it.

As they split up, Soong takes Shepard aside and tells him that they have to move fast, they really shouldn't leave those people up there easy longer than necessary, there's no telling what might happen.

In one of Atlantis' maintenance corridors, McKay has finished running a whole load of wires around the surrounding space, and radio to tell Chuck that he's ready, and quickly getting out of there, tells him to start it up.

Inside, the power conduit lights up and suddenly lightning starts arching out of it, from what we see is a small hole, being caught by the wires.

Alright, is the scorpion moving yet? He asks, no… what about now? Shepard radios McKay and tells him to calm down, it'll probably take a while for it to be come aware of the breach. But after ten minutes Shepard's getting antsy too. Soong says it doesn't make sense, it went right for the electricity when it was released. Why isn't it… Shepard recognizes that look, it's the look McKay gets before he has some kind of revelation.

It doesn't care about the bait because it has a safe supply on electricity on it's way, there's a huge thunderstorm headed for Atlantis, and perched at the top of that tower, it'll be able to catch a lot of lightning strikes. Why come down here and risk getting shot at when there was a much safer supply on it's way? Finishes Soong.

Well, that's _great_, Shepard says, but how do they get the people out now? Well, thinking for a while, she says a small scale attack, that it perceives as no serious threat, and might pursue, could lure it away. But it would be putting somebody in danger.

Danger? What danger? Asks Ronon. He's done it a hundred time to the Wraith.

Alright, he's almost there, says Sheppard over the radio, the creature's layer is on the other side of the ladder that should be to his left, says Shepard over the radio, monitoring Ronon's progress over the HUD. Ronon gets up on the first few rungs and shoots through the open hatchway leading to the roof, then backs away when he hears some commotion, and fires another shot at it when it pokes it's... head(?) out the hatch, the starts running when he hears it take off in pursuit.

In a cloaked jumper, Shepard observes his progress, making sure he's doing all right and that their far away enough before bringing the jumper's rear onto the oddly scalloped roof, allowing Rodney, Soong and Lorne access. As Rodney jumps out, he's nearly blown over by the winds, which have seriously picked up, and is only saved by Soong who grabs him by the shoulders before he can lose his balance. Rushing into the relatively calm part of the roof protected by the unusual construction, they find Keller along with three more people, one of the technicians seen in the dart lab and two more that were presumably kidnapped later on. Bending down, Son says their all alive but unconscious, and checking them over, suffering from mild electrical burns. She asks for help getting them out, and the three begin hauling them back, one at a time.

While Ronon runs over the gantry he and Sheppard use for jogging sometimes, Shepard comes over the radio telling Ronon that their done, he can head to the nearest transport booth and get out of the thing's way. Ronon however says he has a better idea, and with a mighty grunt jumps on the railing and propels himself off, landing on another one running perpendicularly beneath that one without breaking stride.

Emerging onto the "flat deck" surrounding the city's perimeter, he suddenly halts at it's edge and takes out his gun, ready for a confrontation. Something the creature is all too happy to give, and both begin to slowly circle each other. Then it springs at Ronon, flying up in the air with ease, while the Satedan tries to dodge it by rolling under it, but it knocks him backwards with one of it's feet as it passes overhead, slipping on the metal surface made slippery by rain, and only manages to stop itself from going over the edge and into the stormy ocean below. Pressing his advantage, Ronon shoots the thing multiple times, and tries to kick it's claws off, however the creature grabs his leg and pulls itself up, trapping Ronon beneath it's heavy weight. A sudden gust of wind forces it to readjust it's balance and Ronon manages to get out of it's grip and bring his gun hand up for a shot into it's mouth when a swing of it's tail shatters his grip on it and sends the faithful pistol soaring into the murky depths of the alien ocean in a dozen pieces.

Ronon roars in pain and cradles his hand, crawling backwards from the creature. Sensing that it's wounded it's prey, it moves in for the kill, tail snapping overhead as with a single bound it closes the distance between them and extends it's mandibles wide in preparation to rend him- and is sent flying into the dark and stormy sky as it rebounds off the front end of jumper that rams it full force, then plunges into the murky waters below, tail snapping defiantly all the way down.

Ronon gets up and walk to the edge of the deck, looking into the depths before Sheppard brings the jumper around, with it's front coated in alien blood. As it open it's rear hatch, light from inside illuminates Ronon on the cold and rainy evening, and Ronon, throwing one last longing look at the water below, answers the call of warm dryness.

Back in the infirmary Jennifer opens her eyes to find Rodney sleeping his head on the bedside table. Gently sliding her finger over their intertwined hands, she wakes him and goes into a rant about how sorry he is and how he should have- before he's cut off by a kiss. It's fine, occupational hazard she says. Jus then Shepard walk in and sees her awake, good, he asks the doc whether she's fit to be out and about, because there's a helluva a party being thrown in the mess hall. Well, the nurse muses, laughter is a good a cure as any, and he injuries aren't serious, so she's free to go. She teals Shepard to go on, they'll join them as soon as she gets changed.

As the two walk into the mess hall to the tune of Murray Gold's Love Don't Roam, Shepard calls over to where he's talking with Kannan and Teyla while on the other side of the room Amelia and Ronon share a kiss under the mistletoe, and outside the tower glows like Christmas tree while the storm rage around it and sheets of rain drench the city. The best and worst it seems, go hand in hand…

Production Notes

I went through several creatures before settling on the scorpion, beginning with a entire swarm of bugs that hatched from eggs brought aboard on some plants and ending with a flock of ravenous birds.


	3. SGA 602 The Forest of Bones

6.02 The Forest of Bones

In his quarters, Rodney startles awake as Sheppard empties the contents of a glass of water on his head. Ignoring Rodney's complains, he says good morning and tells Rodney to get a move on, he'll be late for his "date". Hearing this, Rodney groans and rolls over, hiding underneath his pillow. Sheppard says that's not going to change anything, he's got ten minutes to get changed and get to the gate room, and if he's smart, he'll do it in five so he can escort Keller to the gate room too. Resigning himself to his fate, Rodney gets out of bed.

In the jumper bay, Sheppard is very interested in how exactly Amelia managed to set this impossible triple date up.

It wasn't that difficult she replies, stowing her pack in the Jumper; Ronon's not much of a dinner date guy, and Teyla and Kannan haven't had much time to themselves since Toren came into the picture.

OK, those he gets, but Keller is as much of a indoors person as Rodney. Granted, she says, but underneath that she's a hopeless romantic, the nigh under an alien sky appeals to her. As she finishes Teyla and Kannan join them, and Shepard says he'll be off then.

A little later, as the Jumper floats into the control room under McKay's uneasy guidance, Sheppard radios them telling them to "have fun kids, and Rodney- don't crash". Thanking John for the vote of confidence, he eases the Jumper through the gate, into orbit around a beautiful blue green jovian moon. As they begin their descent to the rainforest covered moon, Amelia's taken away by the sight, having only rarely been off world, and never from a space gate. Well, Teyla says, this would is even more beautiful on the ground than from space if what she's read in the Ancient database is correct. Well maybe, they had a good reason to place the gate in orbit, McKay says, less than enthusiastic about three days of camping in wet, insect infested wilderness.

Setting down in a clearing around a large circular sinkhole that a stream empties out into, everyone files out and breathes in the fresh jungle air. Keller delights in the slightly lower than normal gravity, jumping three feet into the air easily. Ronon says this is a good place to make camp. He'll go scout out the immediate area, and Amelia says she'll join him. Teyla and Kannan volunteer to get some firewood, leaving Keller and McKay to wrestle with the instructions for pitching the tents.

As the two begin unpacking the tents, they fall into taking about their time in med school, and university respectively. While McKay was the traditional nerd, it seems that Keller was the soul of the party. You learn way more than medicine in medical school, she says with a wicked grin. McKay doesn't know what to say to that, but he's spared the need to as the end of the tent pole he's messing around with slips out of his hand and smacks him across the face.

Meanwhile Ronon and Amelia are on a similar subject as they follow the stream to the sound of falling water, Amelia's telling him about how her parents saved up for her to go to university, to study computing. They must be proud of her, he says, with her landing a job here in Atlantis. Well, they don't actually know anything about the Stargate Program, but she thinks they understand.

Yeah, that must be nice, his parents were always torn about his decision to enlist. His father and grandfather didn't exactly see eye to eye on that. Well if they were still around, Banks is sure they would have been very proud of their son, helping save the galaxy and everything. Yeah, he hopes so. Clearing the stream in one huge leap, Amelia laughs with pleasure, saying this is what superheroes must feel like. Showing off, Ronon take a flying leap and pushes off a exposed root, landing on the side of a tree. Not looking to be outdone, Amelia tests a vine, then uses it to swing up to his level. Daring him to a chase, she leaps off, laughing as she does a somersault on the way down. Yelling that he _is_ a runner, he sets off after her good naturedly.

Running through the jungle, he doesn't see her staring ahead open mouthed and knocks her over, but the fall isn't serious in the lower gravity. He looks up to see the clearing and Amelia knocks him aside playfully. In front of them is a beautiful series of waterfalls with miniature rainbows glinting in the spray that rises from the rocks the waters breaks upon, ending on a clear, deep pool, perfect for swimming.

A wile later, Kannan sighs contentedly, floating arms outstretches in the warm water of the pool, when suddenly something grabs him by the waist and pulls him under. Pushing himself to the top, he and Teyla break the surface at the same time, and she breaks into uncontrollable laughter at her husband. Joining her, he begins splashing her as McKay and Keller finally arrive. Both of whom are engaged in speculation on what sort of parasites may be lurking in he calm pool, a conversation that is swiftly interrupted by a Tarzan like yell form Amelia who swings out of the trees on a vine and miraculously hooks her feet underneath Jennifer's armpits, sending both flying over the pool in the gentler gravity with an enormous splash.

Recovering from his shock, McKay remarks to himself that he feels like he's just stepped back into high school and waddles in reluctantly.

As the sun sinks behind the gas giant they're in orbit of, Teyla and Kannan admire the sunset together, leaning against a mossy log. It's nice, she remarks, to be away form Atlantis for a while, not that she has anything against it, but a vacation like this, it's nice. He knows what she means, this is well deserved break, and they lean in for a kiss.

Looking back into the sunset, he says the Athosians are changing. With Atlantis' protection, more and more want to resist the Wraith but- But they don't have the means to do it- and they're getting restless and taking it out on each other, Teyla finishes, she knows. But she doesn't want to think about it right now, enough time for that later when they get back.

Then both look up as gunshots sound in the distance, sending a flock of alien fliers to flight.

Back at the camp, Keller and McKay are pumping lead into some sort of enormous plant creature thing that's emerged from the sink hole and is in the process of trying to eat the jumper. The gunfire however doesn't seem to defer it much and Keller suddenly has an idea, taking their cooking stove and throwing it at the creature, which grabs it as well. In the hope of setting it off, she shots it, hitting it on the third try, but the bullet ricochets off the tough gas canister and McKay yells that that never works in real life.

Teyla and Kannan burst through the undergrowth and slide to a halt, taken aback by the monstrosity before they grab their guns and begin firing as well. Then a stunner blast from Kannan's stunner miraculously sets off the cooking stove and fire envelops the jumper, the shockwave sending everyone crouching.

Stunned but alright, Keller and McKay get up, then looking at each other, then at the jumper and the mass of fried alien on it, then share a hysterical giggle. Teyla and Kannan ask what's so funny, but the geeky couple only laughs harder.

Seeing Ronon run into the clearing, Kannan jokes that he's just missed all the excitement. Quieting down, McKay says to Jennifer that her little movie stunt must have opened a micro fracture, and the stunner's electrical charge ignited the contents, anyways, they are moving camp this minute, there is no way he's sleeping here. Their merriment however is cut short by the sound of equipment hitting metal. Looking up, they see the jumper tilt on it's side, dragged down by the weight of the dead creature, and rush to stop it's plunge into the abyss. Pulling with their collective might, they try to unfasten the creature's tentacles, but to no avail, as the jumper flips over the edge and Kannan's pulled into the water before he can let go.

MacKay roars in anger, kicking the ground as Ronon helps Kannan out.. Why the hell doe this stuff always happen to them? What sort of supreme being would condone such abuse?

Dejected at having lost the jumper and all it's supplies, Amelia tries to save the remnants of the excursion, after all, they can get he jumper back once the- she catches herself before she says Daedalus, aware of it's destruction several weeks before- Apollo gets to Atlantis, and the city will send another jumper to pick them up once the two day window expires. In the meantime, they've got food, water and shelter, and a beautiful landscape to explore.

Except when it a tries to eat your transportation, McKay complains. Their spare ammo went with the jumper Ronon cautions, so they should stay frosty, there might be other hungry plants out there. McKay and Keller share a groan.

Holstering her weapon, Teyla scratches at her exposed arms, letting gout a cry when by brushing the moss off she reveals hundreds of tiny bites leaking a bit of blood.

Under Keller's observant eye, a little mite runs back and fourth before under a magnifying glass before Ronon crushes it. Looking up Keller says that the "moss" is really a colony of these critters, probably a local decomposer. It doesn't look like the bites are poisonous but all she can do right now is swipe it with disinfectant and bandage it. She warns everyone to be more cautious, this may be a tropical paradise, but it's no resort. Talk about not judging a book it's cover Amelia says, referring the moon. They should stick together from now on, no telling what else might be around.

Tending the sizzling wood in the camp fire, Ronon scans the surroundings with practiced eyes. Amelia sits down next to him and for a moment both are silent. What was Sateda like? She asks, she'd like to know more, if he wants to talk about it. Reluctant at first, Ronon sighs and begins telling her about his family's farm- then breaks up. That tree, he says… was not there before.

Making to spin his pistol, he remembers he lost it some time prior and it's now laying at the bottom of the ocean in pieces. He holsters the sidearm, preserving ammunition and takes his sword out as the others come over to see what's happening.

Ronon advances cautiously, sword at the ready, and circles the tree, pocking it- and it suddenly opens up and grabs Ronon with some sort of vine, like a frog snapping up a fly, trapping him inside it's trunk. McKay almost shoots the tree before Teyla slaps his arm aside, saying he would hit Ronon. She, along with Kannan and Amelia fall upon it with knives. But the tree, if that's what it is, is quite committed, and the three have a hard time getting to it as it swings it's branches like clubs. Suddenly it shudders, and Ronon's sword emerges from it's side, as he cuts his way out of the carnivorous plant, emerging from it's shaking corpse covered in sap and digestive fluid. As the rest stare at the panting warrior, McKay makes a crack about eating their green vegetables, forcing a grim chuckle out of everyone. But Keller says that that tree looks an awful lot like the two more over on the other side of the clearing, and Teyla takes one of their signaling flares and lights it, then throws at the base of one of the trees, which actually backs away, using it's cilia like rots to move. Definitely a bad sign.

Kannan says they should move, if the trees are mobile, then staying still would make tem sitting ducks for other carnivorous plants, their faster than the plants, they should take advantage of that. Ronon agrees, they have to find a safer place to make camp.

Walking through the dark jungle is hard work, and the team's flashlights cast tunnels of light through the undergrowth. Keller cries out in disgust, brushing off a arachnid that was crawling up her arm. She looks sheepishly at everyone else as they train their weapons on an assumed assailant. She's just always hated bugs, she apologizes with a shudder.

Then Kannan looks up as raindrops begin falling all around. The tropical shower makes waking all the more difficult, creating treacherous footing and reducing visibility further. Just when it couldn't get worse, Keller remarks miserably and they set off once more. McKay tries to think of something to say to cheer her up, but failing, simply puts his hand on her shoulder to support her, cracking a joke about how that phrase invites disaster.

There attention suddenly snaps forward, Amelia lies on the ground cradling her leg. She slipped on a wet rock and twisted her ankle. Testing her leg, she winces in pain, Keller sits her down and examines the ankle, concluding that it's sprained. She begins applying bandage, bemoaning the nature of the injury. Banks should not be walking with an ankle sprain, they'll need to improvise some sort of crutch. Eying the vegetation warily, Ronon cuts off a sizable branch off the nearest tree, while Keller continues to immobilize Amelia's foot as the rest keep watch.

Kannan tells Ronon that they can't keep moving forever, especially now that Amelia's impaired. They have to get to safer ground. Ronon agrees, the problem is, Teyla adds, there's nothing around but jungle in every direction. Still, they have to stop and rest, by her clock, it's ten in the evening, through just over midnight local, maybe this time they'll get lucky. And after a magnificent snort from McKay, making his opinion of their chances perfectly clear, they settle down with Teyla igniting a small fire with her fire starter, as the tropical shower dies down as abruptly as it began.

McKay and Keller sit watching the fire flicker when she remarks just being in this galaxy seems to guarantee life threatening danger, it makes somebody really re-evaluate what they want from life. But McKay isn't so certain, he's been here five years now, and while he's had some close encounters- to which Jennifer reminds him of all those painful splinters- but they're the price they pay for doing things most can't even dream of.

A bit later, as Rodney and Jennifer sleep in one another's arms, Teyla stokes the fire with Kannan keeping watch beside her. Kannan says that he's never really realized how dangerous just stepping through the gate really is, maybe fighting the Wraith doesn't have to take her away from home into places like this so often? The Athosians want to fight now, with all she knows, she could be invaluable in training them.

Teyla appreciates his concern, but no… this is her calling, the rest of her people are in good hands she says smiling at her husband. Kannan however isn't really listening as he squints at something, standing up he falls flat on his face. Getting up he discovers a small vine wrapped around his ankle and cuts it with his knife. As the two wake the others, they discover the same vines have crept up on everyone else, and are in various stages of entrapping them. Shaken but unharmed, the group hurries away.

As morning dawns above the group, the skies are clear and inviting, wispy clouds blowing over he jungle below, and the sun shines down upon our heroes as they trek along a bare rock ridgeline, safety over comfort. Amelia takes a swing form her bottle, and realizing it's empty turns to McKay, but the scientist snaps. No! He doesn't have any more water left! He's used it a up over the course of the last day and night, kept moving non-stop on three hours of sleep! He continues on the rant for a minute before running out of breath, and Kanaan stops him with a hand on his shoulder, looking at Amelia's shocked face, McKay, in a rare moment of humility, hags his head and apologizes.

Their all tired and hungry, Kannan says, at this point, sleep depravation is getting to all of them, he suggests they settle down for a quick breakfast and to think about what to do next.

As they dig into the self warming MREs, they all agree they can't keep going like this, they have to find a spot to hunker down until an extraction team arrives. Speaking of which, they need more water, to which Ronon volunteers, taking their canteens, he says it won't take long, and disappears into the jungle, but Teyla tells his to wait, and goes with him, saying they shouldn't split up.

Getting back to his meal, McKay comments on the hostility of the native life, it's like every single organism on the planet is dangerous in some way, no wonder the gate was placed in orbit. Which makes no sense he insists, life doesn't evolve that much in ten thousands years, and there was nothing in the database about carnivorous forests! Scooping the last of the gravy from his foil pack, he throws it away, getting a disapproving look from Keller, to which he exclaims that it's not like the greenery has any qualms about eating them! He's entitles to a bit of littering! Reaching for his pack, he mutters a curse when he realizes it's not there, looking around he finds resting against a tree further down the slope. Walking down to get it, he finds his path back blocked by quickly advancing bushes, crying out at their speedy ambush, he draws his friends' attention, who yell at him to get into the tree!

Quickly obeying he clambers up into the lowest branches, but the bushes, or ferns, depending on which botanist you ask, begin climbing after him, using their roots to grip the tree's bark.

Amelia hits the radio, telling Teyla and Ronon to get back double time, explaining their situation. In the tree, McKay is struggling with a dislike for heights to get up the smooth bark, screaming than the first project with the potential to blow up a solar system that comes across his desk is getting assigned to this hellhole! He slips and ending up hanging upside down, with the fern right in front of him, reaching towards him with it's tentacle roots- before it's torn off in a spray of chlorophyll by Teyla's shot.

As Ronon carves a path to the tree, felling a fern with each stroke of his sword, McKay manages to get a steadier grip on the tree, hanging on for dear life as his friends finish off the plans below.

When the noise ceases, he asks whether it's over and looks down, pressing himself back into the truck quickly. Below, his friends tell him to come down, and he gingerly begins to when something catches his eye on the horizon.

A while later, we see a pair of ruins looming out of the jungle, then Ronon drops his binoculars and takes a compass reading before climbing down. A half day's hike away, but they look defensible, and show remarkably little growth, maybe pointing towards maintenance by the so far missing locals. Ah, civilization! Amelia exclaims. At last!

Judging by their track record, the native will probably want to eat them, McKay mumbles.

At this point, they don't have much choice; unless he wants to spend the next day and a half trudging through alien jungle on the constant lookout for danger, Teyla snaps at him, and they move off.

As the sun begins to dip below the horizon, the group comes upon a wide, shallow river. McKay guesses their going to have to get across, right? Actually, no, says Ronon, it's nearly dark, they can't see a thing, and he doesn't wan to sleep soaking wet, they'll make camp on this side and cross at dawn. As such, they begin unpacking supplies, and scouring the nearby ground for anything malignant.

As the sun shines after a blissfully uneventful eight hour night, they enter the water cautiously, walking across the shallow bottom single file. In the lower gravity, they have to lean into the current significantly to avoid being swept away. Submerged to the waist, Keller supports Amelia as they make the crossing, so when Keller goes under Amelia tumbles in after. The team rushes back, ready to face whatever underwater abomination is plaguing them, but not in time as the current pulls tem away easily.

They both come up spluttering but fine. Keller apologizes, her foot snagged on a root and she lost her balance. But in the meantime the current's swept them along quite a distance from their companions into deeper water.

Rounding a bend in the river, their companions rush after them, having crossed the river and now running across the shore, eating up ground with huge strides in the lower gravity.

Hanging on to each other as they swim for the shore, Keller looks up as those on shore motion ahead of her, yelling, as she turns, she blinks in surprise as the two of them come to a stop across the top of a wooden dam. Puling themselves across the top, Amelia and Jennifer try to puzzle out the existence of the structure as they wait for their friends to catch up. However, their yelling becomes even more frantic and she looks up, seeing them sprinting flat out, pointing. Looking around she sees the reason: on the other side of the dam, the sun makes the twin, serrated saber teeth of a local predator very visible indeed as it approaches, snarling.

Amelia and Keller begin backing away slowly, until a snarl from the creature stops them, and they becomes aware of more of them emerging from the water around the dam. Behind them, the team is almost upon them, when the saber toothed beaver leaps- and flies over them as they flatten themselves to the ground. Looking back, they see the whole pack circling a group of the carnivorous trees encountered earlier. The pack acts swiftly, flanking the hungry grove, and covering each other as they dart in testing defenses. Ronon reaches them with everyone else a bit behind when a stray member of the pack approaches them on the shore, and everyone tenses. But apparently for naught, as having decided they're neither plants- and hence food, or another beaver- and hence competition, it proceeds to join it's pack.

Kannan meanwhile says they shouldn't push their luck, the creatures are busily now, but they may not be as friendly later, they should go. Teyla agrees, and they cautiously set off.

Further along, they pause to dry off as the sun sets once again, according to the moon's short fifteen hour rotation around it's gas giant. Striping off outer garments to wring the water out of them, Ronon remarks that after so much time in the field, he's amazed Rodney's been able to keep all that flab; to which McKay indignantly replies that they can't all be male models. Then laughs as what looks like a green pancake lands on Ronon's head. Wiping of in disgust, he sees that it's nothing more than a leaf, albeit a thick and spongy one, and throws it on the ground. But it surprises everyone when it curls up and rolls away into the trees. Apparently, nothing is as it seems on this isolated moon.

Putting their soggy clothes back on, they move on, making their way around the high tree trunks, until they suddenly find themselves in a wide open grass covered space encircling the area around the ruins, that they now see form the heart of a much larger, through largely degraded settlement. Making their way through the rubble, Teyla wonders why this place isn't overgrown, the ruins look very old, and the forest should have reclaimed them by now. Kannan says the ground is very hard, the city could be built on rocky ground, it's possible that the roots of bigger trees can't get a hold. Possible, Teyla conceded, but not that likely given what they've seen already.

Kannan however is tired of puzzles, so long as it isn't trying to eat him, he says, he's happy, and flops down an the ground with a welcome sigh. But McKay is more than capable of making up the slack, launching into a tirade about nothing on this godforsaken rock making sense, what kind of warped evolutionary ladder could have produced such a asymmetrical, blatantly hostile ecosystem? It's like everything on the planet is actively trying to kill them. What is this? A Death World?

Amelia uses the momentary pause in his monologue to say they can worry about it later, then sun is setting, and they should find a safe place to camp.

Walking up to the base of the pyramid, everyone stops to light their lanterns in the quickly coming darkness. Switching on flashlights, Ronon and Teyla explore the edges of the monolithic structure with their beams, spotting an entrance. Shining their lights into the black abyss, they venture a ways inside, scanning the walls. Sweeping her hand across one of the walls, she brings up a layer of gray dust. Some kind of fungus Teyla says, it likes the dark, and the jungle air's humid, it's probably colonized the whole inside of the pyramids. They should camp on the slopes of the pyramid, there they can see what's coming, and it's more hygienic than sleeping with all this mould around.

While everyone settles down. McKay grabs a lantern and says he's going to go explore. Puzzled at this twist in attitude, Amelia questions him about it, to which he replies that he's sufficiently sleep deprived to no longer be tired. Jennifer rolls over and confirms it, she's getting it too, it reminds her of finals at med school, she lived in the student center for three days straight on nothing but caffeine and takeout, her peers though the she was high all the time by the end. She get sup and joins McKay, who Teyla cautions to be careful, the ruins could be unstable.

Climbing up the pyramid, McKay remarks that unlike on earth, these pyramids don't seem to be ceremonial, there's a lot of internal space. As they climb onto the top, they're granted a spectacular view of the sky, with no pollution and in nearly perfect darkness, the entire sky is aglow with stars. They find a place to sit amid the stone columns that once held up some sort of dome and Keller lies down, looking straight up, she tells McKay to do the same, and as he does so, she lets out a contended sigh. The rest of the weekend may have been a disaster, but this is worth it, she cuts off McKay as he's about to whine, telling him not to ruin the moment. And giggles as he yawns, then follows suit, so much for sleep deprived energy. He says they should get back. She agrees, but neither moves. They can wait a little longer, and she blinks as he puts her arm around her, unused to such easy displays of affection, then rolls her eyes as she sees he's already asleep.

Back at the camp, everyone is settling down for the short night. Ronon says their due back about now, so somebody will probably come in the course of the night. He reminds whoever on watch to not wake him up, he's beat. Teyla takes the first watch, helping herself to some sweets for energy, as their last coffee pack was consumed a long time ago. Behind her, Ronon's already snoring, propped up against he pyramid's side and everyone else is making themselves comfortable. Suddenly remembering, she takes out her radio and calls Keller and Rodney, suppressing a yawn and getting no response she tries again, breaking off to yawn. Giving up, she tells them over the radio to get back to camp, then drops the radio tiredly, letting it clatter onto the ground, and props her head up in her hands, eyelids drooping.

A while later, she wakes up, sleepily surveying her surroundings, she concludes that hard rock can be surprisingly comfortable, as she's stretched out on the ground around her post. Mildly curious why she woke up, she picks at a piece of fungus covering her nostril, then realizing that's the problem, puts her head back down. Watching her hand through a haze of sleepy bliss, she notices the fungus growing on it, but rolls over and mumbles she'll clean it off in the morning.


	4. Webisode 1: Back to Normal

Clapping his hands together, Shepard gives a happy yell. Look who's finally out of quarantine! In the infirmary, Teyla, Kannan, Ronon, Amelia, Rodney and Jennifer lie in bed all in a row. As Shepard finishes, McKay starts awake, then makes to scratch his back, to have his hand slapped way by a nurse.

They were lucky, she says, there was minimum epidermal penetration by the fungus. Between the antiseptic creams they've administered, and the antibiotics and immune boosters, they've barely beat the fungus, she's never seen a more aggressive strain.

Just like the rest of that muddy hellhole, agrees Kannan. Well, rumors have spread, and the botanist crowd is nearly giddy with excitement, says Shepard, through Woolsey's banned all travel to the moon until they're debriefed and proper safety protocols can be put in place.

Propping himself up, McKay asks whether they're sure they got all the fungus? Almost panicky, he says fungus spores can survive nearly everything! All it would take for a few and he's turn into some mutated, walking mushroom! But Jennifer reassures him, he can take her word as a doctor that they haven't missed anything. She's been over the procedures and results herself.

Somewhat assuaged, McKay's stomach suddenly growls, and he asks when they're getting food, he's starving. Ronon gives an exasperated sigh and asks if there is such a time when Rodney isn't hungry. To which the scientist indignantly replies that he's just been through a highly traumatic ordeal…

As the two bicker, Shepard smiles and excuses himself, he's got a over six hundred people coming in two weeks, and there's a lot of preparations to be done.

As he leaves, Jennifer and Teyla share a look, and Jennifer says that things are officially back to normal, Teyla only rolls her eyes and throws a pillow at Rodney to shut him up.


	5. SGA 603 The Song of the Dead

Teaser

Atlantis hears "The Song Of The Dead"

Over the years, the Stargate Program has brought Humanity into contact with all sorts of alien life and civilization, from the unstoppable Replicators, to the reclusive Re'ol, and toping them all, the god like Ascended beings. But as Atlantis receives an influx of personnel and equipment from Earth as part of the IOA's renewed commitment to the expedition, the city picks up a strange transmission originating form a comet passing through the system, and Shepard and Teldy's teams are sent to investigate, only to find themselves stranded aboard and ancient craft whose inhabitants are nothing the SGC could have ever prepared them for.

Episode:

In the control room, what amounts to more or less the entire cast is assembled as the gate dials. As Chuck finished counting off chevrons, the gate kawooshes and a transmission comes through. On the screen is an aged yet lean African-American who introduces himself as General Fox.

At the SGC, people and equipment fill the gate room, with more standing by, much like at the time of the expedition's initial departure. These men and women represent the IOA's increased interest in the Ancient Database and what it has to offer.

Fox asks if everything is ready and Woolsey replies to the affirmative. Signing off, he says he'll join them momentarily.

Meanwhile in the Atlantis gate room, military and civilian personnel have begun to file through the gate, many dragging trolleys loaded with equipment and supplies, and are being guided out by Atlantis personnel.

As Shepard accompanies Woolsey to the floor, the IOA representative urges him to cheer up, the IOA is finally investing some real cash into the Atlantis expedition, he should be happy. But Shepard isn't in the mood, saying he'd feel better if he wasn't being replaced. He has after all, lead the military side of things for five years now, now he's being tossed aside like a rag. Woosley points out that the SGC was run by a General, and O'Neil was a colonel himself when he was in the SG-1.

Fox interrupts the two with a curt greeting, trailed by two assistants who are carrying the general's belongings. He shakes hands with Woolsey and Shepard before looking around and whistling, pretty impressive set up they have here. Woolsey motion him away, as more people are pouring through and they should clear out. Fox motions to his aides and grabs his bags.

In his new, bare office, He drops his bags on the floor. Woolsey says he'd like to chat, but he has a major re-supply to oversee, and excuses himself. Fox, also dismisses his assistants and sits down in the swivel chair behind the plain desk. He waits for the aide to close the door behind him before beginning: he knows he's replacing Shepard, realizes that it must feel like a stab in the back, but orders are orders. He pauses to evaluate Shepard's reaction to the last statement, then goes on. Be that as it may, Shepard should actually be happy, since his job is more or less the same, and in fact, he has less paperwork to deal with now. He's not going to make this any more difficult than it has to be, but there will be changes, Atlantis has lagged somewhat behind in certain areas, he's here to bring it up to speed, and he needs Sheppard's help to do so. He'd like to cover some of these issues, if Sheppard has a spare moment.

In the control room, Amelia is giving directions over the radio to a group of newcomers who've lost heir way when another tech come sup to her and begins to speak but she cuts him off with a not now gesture. The Chinese tech, seeing Woolsey walk in, maneuvers towards him with laser guided precision. Forcibly making the head of operations pay attention by guiding him physically to his chair and forcing him down. He says the city's sensors picked up a signal a short wile ago, it's some sort of signal, and puts it up on audio, which grabs Woolsey's attention. As he listens, Woolsey concentrates on the eerie sound, turning up the volume, the series of chirps and whistles begins to echo and double back on itself almost hypnotically. Looking up, he's startled to find the entire room's fallen silent, the sound of a confused Irish scientist can be heard over Amelia's headset as everyone listens to the captivating sound. Telling everyone to get back to work, her puts out a call for McKay on the PA.

As far as McKay can tell, it doesn't mean anything, could be an alien version of an SOS but he has no way of telling, but barring a miracle or very good stasis technology, the people who sent it out are long dead by now. He brings up Atlantis' sensor display, highlighting an object slowly moving through the inner system. This comet, he says, is moving at a respectable ten percent of light speed, and it's trajectory puts it's origin way out in interstellar space, the signal just started broadcasting then stopped, no reason for either event. He can't get any more accurate readings because whatever it is, it's dead, except for the signal, no emissions whatsoever, through it has a really weird subspace footprint. If they want to find out anything more about their mysterious caller, they'll have to go and take a look from up close. Calling Sheppard, who's with Fox, he appraises John of the situation and asks if they can go. Sheppard excuses himself and leaves Fox, telling Rodney to gear up, then notifies Teldy's team to do the same, and contact Chuck to prep two jumpers.

Under Anchorage's K1 supergiant sun, the comet throws out a tail of vaporized gases that cloak it's rocky core from sight. As three jumpers rocket towards it in a lose V formation, Ronon struggles to fit his bulk into one of the pressure suits, thanking the powers that be that he got a haircut earlier, then straps his tactical vest on top. Major Teldy's team is doing the same, no longer an all female team with the inclusion of one Captain Dorian Howell, who's preparing their weapons with vacuum resistant lubricants along with Dusty. McKay peers at his readouts puzzled, then radios the other jumpers, asking for a uplink to their sensors, he wants to use them as a phased array to get a better look at the object. As they comply, he manipulates his instruments some more, then ends up even more puzzled. Looking over, Shepard asks what's wrong. Rodney isn't certain but, speaking of which, the chances of them finding something useful on that rock just went down enormously.

Calling everyone to the front, the zooms in on the comet, then pulls up a three-D wireframe, hitting a few more keys, he turns it transparent to reveal a series of false color images. The craft, object, whatever it is he says, is kilometers long, bigger than a Hive ship, and shielded somehow, as he can't get any sub-surface reading from it. The surface of ice and dirt was likely built up over the course of it's travels, he can't even imagine how long it's been on the go for a layer that thick to accumulate, maybe it passed through a proto-system. The technology to build something that big, an hat durable, just imagine what hey could learn I they could rescue its contents, he says, with a wishful look on his face.

Newsflash, says Dusty, in case he hasn't seen any sci-fi movies lately, there's no such thing as a rescue in space, there's only the second wave of victims, punctuating this by cocking her handgun.

And whoever might be there, may not take kindly to visitors, Teldy says ominously, smiles and Shepard smirks at Rodney's discomfort.

Well, Sheppard says, soon they're going to all see it for themselves, their almost there. Watching his thrust carefully as he decelerates to zero-zero intercept, he stops the jumper a hundred meters in front of the comet, flipping the jumper around so their looking straight at it, he remarks that it's certainly an impressive sight. In front of them, the dense nucleus hangs suspended I space while It's surface, almost foaming as the gas boils off and moves backwards, and the tail framing the entire thing like some gaseous halo, looks like some sort of space bound glacier, with all the sure inertia of such a titanic object.

As everyone crowds into the cockpit to stare at it for a moment, a piece the size of a small building breaks of soundlessly and goes tumbling into the comet's wake, revealing the pitch black razor sharp edges of the craft's structure. McKay tells everyone to get the hell out before he's squashed by the press of gawking children, and as they get back to gearing up, he asks Shepard to raise the shield and move in closer, he may have found a way in.

Two other jumper holding formation behind them, the jumper edges closer to the object, moving toward an opening in the surface. The shields shimmers as they glide through the layer of dust encircling the comet, then the jumper's plunged into darkness as it enters the tunnel. Inside, Rodney says he's reading gravity, it's pulling them forward, up by their current orientation. Shepard turns the jumper so it's facing forward , and carefully relaxes the throttle, allowing them to be tugged forward.

Dusty and Howell and hand them out the vacuum-hardened P-90s. But McKay reports that there's an atmosphere, artificial gravity's holding it in and it looks breathable, but cold.

Uncomfortable with the blackness all around, Shepard hits the external lights, revealing a dusting of gray-white powder covering the walls of the tunnel. When the feed from the other jumpers fizzes and stops. McKay comments that they apparently can't get anything out without direct line of sight, calling the other jumpers to report what they've found, Shepard says that they'll keep this short, two hours and if they don't report back he expects them to come flying to the rescue, What? And risk scratching the new paint job? Asks the female pilot of the second jumper. He says he means it, smiling, revealing the pilot's name to be Captain Meyers, then relaxes the throttle once again and lets the artificial gravity pull them forward.

Meanwhile in the back, the seats are packed, and the air is thick with the expectation of seeing and exploring someplace no man or woman has gone before. Howell says this is his second favorite part of serving on Atlantis, the pre-mission jitters, knowing that there's a go chance something's going to happen, but having no idea what is it, the expectation. Porter asks Teldy, who's leaning in the hatch and says that he's got to be the weirdest member of the team. Still, they don't get to explore an ancient alien spaceship every day.

As the jumper slowly flies through the ice filled corkscrew shaped tunnel, it finally emerges into open space above a plateau, where the lights barely light up a few spots on the ice covered floor of the cavernous chamber they're now floating to the bottom of.

Teldy walks into the cockpit and peers through the windshield for a glimpse of what might be out here, but it's pitch black aside from the little illumination from the jumper.

Shepard switches to the heads up display and is rewarded with a mind twisting array of structural components of titanic proportions. Eat your words McKay, says Sheppard, whoever built this, they could defiantly find something useful here.

But McKay's not paying attention, he says that they shouldn't rely on the sensors, whatever it's made of, and however it's constructed, the alien ship is scrambling or jamming or doing something to their sensors, McKay says exasperated at this puzzle. They're seeing things that aren't here, or can't exist.

Alright then, says Shepard, guess they'll have to just eyeball it. As he brings the jumper in for a soft landing in the snow and ice of interstellar dust that the derelict has accumulated over time and orders everyone to helmet up. It may be breathable, but it's very cold, more so because of the atmosphere, and they don't know what might be in the air.

As the jumper's ramp slides down, Teldy's team rushes out to secure the area, silhouetted in the jumper's internal lights, which provide the only source of illumination around. Swinging her flashlight around as everyone else files out, Dusty says their not afraid of the dark are they?

Walking around the jumper, Ronon notices a breeze blowing away the snow he stirs up a he walks and suddenly he's back on Sateda, many, many years ago, and dust and pieces of rubble settle around him. As he looks around, people start wailing in pain as the flames from the blast die down, people begin whaling in pain, from shrapnel and serious burns, most of which are still on fire. As he stares at the horror around him, he sees himself on the floor with the body of a unlucky nurse having taken the glass shards and gravel form the explosion, unfortunately, that nurse is **Meliea**, Ronon's wife, whose last breath turns into- Sheppard's voice, asking what's wrong. Ronon takes a loot around, then takes a deep breath and realizes he's shaking. Peeling his fingers off his gun, he asks how come there's wind inside the ship, changing the subject. McKay says that's not really surprising, given the size of this ship, it's big enough to create it's own weather now that it nears the sun and the outer surface is warmer in some places than others, creating convection currents. Sheppard however tries to give Ronon a look, but it's lost through the reflections on their helmets.

Through the fact that it does so says there aren't many if any airlocks or doors around…

Whatever it is, says Dusty, this wind's creepy. Shining the lights across the field of snow and ice, she says it sounds like whispering. Howell concentrates on the errant sound of that breeze until he begins to make out words- the yelling of his sergeant under the whirl of helicopter blades as he and his teammates turn and begin laying suppressive fire on the enemy, keeping them under cover so they can't hit anything important. The clang of small arm bullets ricocheting off of the helicopter's skin. Howell hits a pair of insurgents, and switches targets, but as the Blackhawk begins to rise, one of the 'dead" militants manages to bring an RPG to bear and it streak out toward the helicopter… Shaiung it off, Dorian swings his gun around the dark, gray "snow" that covers the derelict. Teldy asks him if he's OK, and he says yes, just had a flashback.

Interrupting the moment, Sheppard humorously comments that if anyone needs to go to the toilet they should do so now, their not coming back for an hour and a half. With no takers on John's offer, Sheppard raises the shield on the Jumper with his remote. Alright, they should split up to cover more ground, head in opposite directions and rendezvous back in under an hour.

As they move off, Dusty whispers into the radio with her usual dark humor, remember boys and girls, in space nobody can hear you scream. McKay only rolls his eyes and says their not in a vacuum.

As the two begin diminishing as they separate, McKay and Porter take advantage of the temporary line of sight to talk about the derelict. He's getting very odd reading on the material the derelict's made of. According to his scanner, their walking on a floor made out of something denser than solid neutronium, which shouldn't even be possible. Porter however confirms this, whoever built this craft was obviously extremely technologically advanced, more so than even the Ancients perhaps.

Ronon calls a halt, he can hear something, getting down on one knee to feel the ground for vibrations that are getting louder… Suddenly everyone is whipped sideways, tumbling and rolling along with a wall of snow, freefalling with no bearing, except the other lights around them, twisting and turning in the chaos like a avalanche on a vertical cliff, before sliding to a stop in a mound of snow and ice as gravity resets to normal. In the distance, a loud thunk is heard and then the whisper of the wind is all that fills the silence.

Teldy quickly comes over the radio, asking if everyone's still there. Getting up sorely, Shepard does a head count and responds to the affirmative, what the hell was that? Not bothering to get up, McKay unclenches his fingers from around his scanner before replying, gravity switched directions for moment there, he has no idea why- or how.

Well, says Ronon, it's good that it reverted the moment it did, and kicks a snowball into a dark abyss he's standing at the edge of. Joining him, Shepard whistles at the bottomless darkness they would have plunged into if they'd kept on falling. Teldy breaks their reverie with a question about the jumper. If they rolled so far near the edge then… realizing the implication, everyone starts hurrying back to the jumper, Ronon taking off at a sprint.

As they meet up halfway, both teams greet each other, Dusty swears- there's no jumper in sight, but Howell says that may be a good thing, it may be further up. Unable to see far with their lights, they resort to the trusty scanners once again, but as McKay looks up form his, his face wears a grim expression. Asking Shepard for his remote, he plugs it into his scanner, trying to get the jumper to emit homing beacon, without success. Sheppard swears, they can't go on, not with the possibility of being thrown out into… that, he motions the abyss, by some glitchy AG system. They head back and wait pickup- and pray nothing else happens on the way, maybe find some shelter just in case.

Meanwhile, Dusty's half listening to everyone else as she cracks a glow stick and throws it over the edge, watching it go, then frowns and calls he scientists over, cracking another one and throwing it. As they watch it fall, it suddenly curves sideways and disappears behind something. Porter comments that if the ship maintains not one but several gravity fields inside, it would explain why they were pulled sideways, but she's never seen multiple artificial gravity systems on a ship before. That's because it's not artificial gravity, replies McKay darkly. If the derelict is made up of a material denser than neutronium, something the size of this comet could very well have the gravitational field of something as large as a moon… or bigger. That's nice says Teldy not paying attention, but they have to haul ass now. But that's impossible insists Porter, at that point they're talking near-singularity- Teyla tells everyone to be quiet, she's seen movement. Squinting into the blackness, she begin to make out something drifting over the bleak landscape. As everyone else becomes aware of the small will-o-wisp like entity, gliding towards them in random dips and climbs, leaning close to it as it begins flying through their midst, Dusty says it looks like a snowflake.

Then Ronon gives a yell and starts firing, causing everyone to turn around and open fire on the charging creature. Calling a hold, Sheppard and Ronon move forward to examine it. The snowflake begins drifting more urgently, diving through their midst, as if to push them, as an ear piercing cry is hear in the distance, followed by other answering calls.

Looking about, Teldy says she doesn't like the sound of that, if they're caught out in the pen they're dead meat. Lacking any other options, Shepard says go, follow the snowflake. As they urgently move off, Howell asks if they shouldn't have just hunkered down and waited for pickup. Sheppard takes a good look at the ceiling, somewhere up there is they way out he says, but they can get a clear signal to it as long as the don't get anything in between them and it, and there's something to be said for keeping the initiative, this way, they can't be flanked as easily. And what if they're being led into a trap? She asks. Well, hopefully that's no the case, if they are, it's only a little worse than being caught out in the open with limited ammo.

Walking along, Porter asks if anyone else is cold, to which most say yes. It's the cold air Teldy says, their pressure suits rely on vacuum being isolative, then adjusts her rifle, moving it to her back so she can pump her fists to maintain circulation. Porer transfers her scanner to another hand so she can do the same one hand at a time, as suddenly, their ethereal guide bobs down and vanishes.

Coming to a stop around the passage leading down into the ground, the "flake" hovering above it, dipping below to surface as if to motion them to follow. Teldy says they could split up, one team goes and checks out the tunnel for say, a hundred meters, if they don't find anything, they get back and everyone hunkers down near the tunnel, use it as a bottle neck to defend against any hostiles. Shepard has no objection, and looking at his clock he walks down the shallow ramp, ordering Teldy's team to hold the fort. And they set about trying to find a way of keeping warm while his team continues on- then stops as another vibration travels up their boots. Telling everyone to hit the ground and hang on, Sheppard grabs on to a icy outcrop when gravity flip flops again, this time more violently, sucking them first towards the exit of the tunnel, then just as suddenly breaking their holds by flipping and sending them down it as if they were on a waterslide, careering and bouncing off icy walls and each other like so many billiard balls.

As he's falling, McKay is suddenly knocked unconscious as he hits a particularly nasty bump.

Waking up, he find himself lying on his back in a field of grass. Looking up, he sees a brilliant blue sky, with wispy clouds drifting peacefully- before a dart streaks across his line of sight, and crashes into the ground a hundred meters away. The sounds of battle are muffled in his ears as he pushes himself up. Looking around, he sees himself along with the rest of the team crouching behind an enormous piece of wreckage. Another team of marines is similarly engaged, using their weapons to fend off swooping darts, when a blast from a descending cruiser sends them and the piece of wreckage they're hiding behind into the air.

Sheppard is yelling instructions over the noise of the battle, but McKay can't hear them, and as he walks forward, unnoticed by everyone like a ghost, people begin running form cover to cover, two at a time. The dream Rodney takes off with Teyla besides him, the cruiser finally turns it's guns on their piece of cover, and as they run for it, it explodes behind them, throwing shrapnel racing outward, hitting the dream McKay and Teyla as they dive for the ground a second too late, and the bright explosions fades to white in Rodney's eyes, then turning into a concerned Alison Porter calling his name.

Opening his eyes just a tad, he sees a bright white light, sparkling invitingly, then Porter's head cuts it off as she checks for pupil dilation with a flashlight. As the world comes back into focus, Porter grins and says that's right, back to the world of the living now. As he tries to get up, Porter pushes his head back down, and he asks how come nobody's wearing helmets, and where are they? He asks, noticing the warm, bright surroundings, covered form floor to ceiling with brilliant crystal. Porter however lets Sheppard handle it as she moves on to her other patients. Helping his fiend sit up, John says that this part of the tunnel arrested their fall when the gravity field messed up again, some sort of elastic force field.

Suddenly, the room crystal to pulse slowly, getting brighter than darker, causing everyone to look up, with curiosity. Taking out her scanner, Porter studies the crystal intently for a few seconds, then looks up astonished, the light patterns flowing through the crystal, aren't random, it's... alive isn't quite the right word, but sentient. As she finishes, the light brightens as if to agree then lapses back into it's normal glow. Looking back at the life signs detector, she frowns, then starts pressing buttons quickly, it's accessed the scanner's systems remotely, it's downloading it's database.

As she says it, ancient writing begins to stream through the air, holographic letters and words arrange themselves, and video feeds spring up, all in the style of the detector's main operating system. Looking at it all, Porter days that these are all dangerous things, high radiation environments, low and high temperatures, etc. It's some kind of warning. From what asks Teldy? I response, a vide feed appears, a group of aliens are exploring the same landscape the Atlantian team just did, when suddenly they're attacked by a group of creatures, energy and projectile weapons fire is seen before the vide is frozen, showing one of the attackers, a centipede like creature, of enormous stature, diddled with holes from weapons fire and claw marks from many battles. This image is quickly joined by other, some form the same battle, others from different groups, showing different creatures attacking the explorers.

OK.. says Dusty, she thinks she gets it, people come aboard, start exploring, then they're attacked by these things, they lose, and next picture, they're attacking new people. This is like some kind space zombie movie.

Suddenly all the displays vanish, replaced by a single large timer, counting down from twenty four minutes. A countdown to what asks Porter. The entire hallways if flooded by an iridescent three dimensional matrix of fibers, McKay recognizes as an image of the universe, on the scale of trillions of light years. A miniature version of the craft shines in one corner of the matrix, then disappears and reappears in another. Porter swears, if they don't get off before that happens, no Human ship will ever be able to reach them.

Jogging through the tunnel, weapons at the ready, Teldy says they've got five minutes till pickup give or take, when McKay says he's got motion on the Life Signs detector. The teams brings their weapons to bear, but keeps up the pace. As their lights pick out vague shapes ahead, they open fire, tearing through space suited alien bodies, already torn and open to space. But the weapons fire doesn't deter them, and they charge. Teldy yells at everyone to aim for the legs, incapacitate if they can't neutralize, and several of the creature go down, continuing to crawl and drag themselves forwards. As the first wave of creatures makes contact, they're cut down by Ronon's sword. Sheppard yells at everyone to keep going, no time to finish them off. Damn, this corridor didn't seem this long when they were falling down it.

Emerging from the tunnel in burst of gunfire, shredding two thin legged jellyfish aliens. Sheppard take a look around the ramp, then orders everyone down and throws a few grenades, running back down into the tunnel before they explode, shredding unseen assailants. As he ducks back out, Teldy tries the radio, calling Lorne, and gets a fuzzy, incomprehensible reply. Running out into the open so she can get better reception, she begins to vaguely make out some words, and tries to reply as best she can. It's no use! Says McKay, the ship's internal structure prevents decent sensor reading, what chance does she think radio stands?

In the meantime, Sheppard orders everyone to make a stand at the mouth of the tunnel. Calling Teldy back, he takes her signal flares and pops them both, throwing them into the ground in front of the ramp, then doing the same with his own. Everyone else take theirs out and throws theirs. While not their primary purpose, the flares light up the area around the teams' stronghold, revealing dozens of possessed creatures ambling towards their position at their highest speed.

Using the sinking ramp like a trench, the team opens fire, resting their weapons on the ground wile keeping their bodies covered by the sides of the ramp.

As he's firing, Howell notices two lights flying in the distance, quickly clicking his radio, he manages to hear Lorne's garbled, but understandable, speech, and exultant, tells him they're pinned down and need evac. Acknowledging their plight, he says they see the flares and are on the way.

Noticing a handful o flight bee lining for them, Sheppard suddenly yells for everyone to get down, and split second alter, the area around the ramp erupts in flames as four drones impact simultaneously.

Dropping to a hover above the melted grime while it's partner provide close air support, the jumper drops it's ramp, revealing Lorne's team; weapons ready, calling to everyone to get in. Taking off at a sprint, Teldy's and Sheppard's teams quickly begin filing into Lorne's jumper when Howell feels the ground tremble beneath his boots then Dusty grabs his hand just as he flies upward in the reserved gravity, lifting her as well, until their ascent is arrested by the roof of the jumper. Teldy McKay and Ronon on the other hand, were outside the jumper when the switch happened, and they fly straight up along with all the grimy snow, Lorne's quick thinking saves McKay and Teldy, as he abruptly climbs, tail first, scooping them up, but missing Ronon, who at that precise moment felt gravity go back to normal and started falling- splat, onto the hood of the other jumper.

Lorne orders a retreat, gunning towards their entrance point, but Porter says they can't go into space with Ronon on the outside, their suits got torn up. Hearing this, Lorne orders the other jumper to hover, and backs up to it. In the back, Teyla hits the ramp and as it slides down, yells to Ronon to jump.

Looking down at the ground far below, Ronon turns around and pushes himself off the jumper's slanted face, hitting the other ramp at a run and crashing into everyone inside in a domino effect. Unaffected to the side, Teyla says they're good as she shuts the hatch, and Lorne takes off.

As the jumpers clear the entrance to the craft and fly off, the ice covering begins to fragment even more dramatically than before, revealing the entire ship unfolding from a dormant state, like some deadly, metallic flower, and as it reaches the end of it's transformation, space around it begins to warp and twist until like an elastic band being released, it's no longer there.


	6. Webisode 2: The New Boss

6.03-6.04 The New Boss

Sheppard storms through Atlantis's corridors, blowing past a hastily saluting airman without even a glance in his direction, the fury in his eyes blotting out all distraction as he closes with single minded purpose on the cause of his present condition.

Stepping into Fox's outer office, Fox's assistant said he can't go in, the general is in the middle of something, but a look from Sheppard silenced him as the Lieutenant Colonel waved a hand over the control to Fox's door.

As he steppes inside, a torrent of yelling washed over him.

Sheppard, finally! Exclaims McKay. This knuckle dragging Neanderthal seems to think it's in Rodney's best interests to spend his time in some dinky lab, surrounded by moron assistants, rather than out in the field, where he can actually do some good!

Turning to Fox, Sheppard asks why he wasn't informed of the decision to reassign McKay earlier? But before he can go further, Fox cuts him off that he was, the memo was sent, it seems the news leaked before it could get to them through, so both of them should reign in their tempers!

Mackay yells that I changes nothing! He's been on Sheppard's team for five years, five _years_! Fox can't just take him off!

Actually, he can, the general shoots back. Instead of gallivanting around the galaxy getting shot in the ass, he could put that oversized, lemon-intolerant head of his to work figuring out how all the ancient technology their surrounded with works, because _that's_ the reason they're here, now he should GET A GRIP, or Fox will have him thrown-

McKay punches the general in the face, throwing himself at the general over the desk between them.

Shocked, Sheppard simply stares for a moment as Fox pushes McKay off, and his assistant rushes into the office, grabbing him form behind, Fox radios for security.

When they arrive a few seconds later at a sprint, tells them to get McKay to the brig! Woolsey can deal with him later!

As one makes to bind him with plastic cuffs, McKay tells him not to dare, and with a last spiteful look at Fox, turns and storms out, closely followed by the guards.

His assistant asks if Fox needs help, but the general wipes his bloody nose with a tissue and says he'll be fine, it's not the first time he's been punched in the face, and waves the assistant off. Back to Sheppard, he says that he's picked a replacement, so he won't be shorthanded.

As Sheppard's shock at Rodney's outbursts subsides, his fury returns, and he faces Fox scowling. With all due respect, it's his team, and he's worked with them for years, and now Fox is just going to- watch your tone Lieutenant Colonel, says Fox. He's well aware of AR-1's spectacular record, in fact, it's the reason he's pulling McKay off, Sheppard's team gets into to many hotspots, trouble comes to them, and McKay knows too much to be risked out in the field so often, he's too valuable.

With all due respect, he should at least get to pick who's going to replace him!

No! Says Fox, he knows Sheppard's type, he'll go through fifty candidates, reject every one, then go back and whine to get his old man back until his Fox gets tired and takes the choice away from him, so Fox is sparing both of them time and headache by cutting through all the bull****! He says, and slaps a file down onto the table between them.

Gritting his teeth, Sheppard asks for permission to speak candidly, but Fox denies it.

He's been out here for too long, says Fox, and doesn't recognize what the tug from the chain of command feels like, he recommends he get used to it because this is the price he pays for getting more manpower and equipment to fight the Wraith, this is no longer the wild wild west, and Sheppard is no longer a lone cowboy shooting form the hip! Dismissed.

For a moment, Sheppard looks like he'll push the case further, but then he grabs the file off the desk and walks out angrily.


	7. SGA 604 That Drum's Discordant Sound

6.04 That Drum's Discordant Sound

"I hate that drum's discordant sound,  
>Parading round, and round, and round:<br>To thoughtless youth it pleasure yields,  
>And lures from cities and from fields,<br>To sell their liberty for charms  
>Of tawdry lace and glitt'ring arms;<br>And when Ambition's voice commands,  
>To fight and fall in foreign lands."<p>

The Drum, by John Scott

0800 Hours  
>Woolsey and General Fox are having an informal briefing in Woolsey's quarters. Putting down his file, Woolsey exhales loudly. From the looks of things, he says, this Rohni Kamini woman has the entire IOA twisted around her middle finger.<br>That she does, Fox says. She came out of nowhere and hit the IOA right in the back: they never saw it coming. Went right over their heads and attacked them in front of their national leaders, parading every mistake the IOA and the SGC itself ever made with just enough respect for their successes to keep from getting thrown out.  
>Well she must have certainly made an impression, given the power she now wields as - (Wooolsey checks his file) - the head of the Reform Committee.<br>Fox snickers. The president may not like it much, but even he couldn't argue with most of the points she made: the IOA would have blackballed her immediately if she hadn't gotten the heads of state themselves involved.  
>Woolsey says he can imagine; speaking with some past experience, change and bureaucracy don't get along.<br>The good news is, Fox continues, that the Staragte program is getting a well deserved upgrade - since it's nigh impossible to keep the SGC secret and continue Earth's shipbuilding program -and more money is being put into R&D. Kamini's big plan is to move the production and extraction jobs off world. Earth's naqudah supply is being exported in exchange for off world equipment: Orbanian naqudah generators, Jaffa electronics and so on. If all goes according to plan, there will be BC-304 space frames rolling off the assembly lines on Selmak within six months.  
>It sounds like Fox admires her, says Woolsey.<br>Fox grins and says that he's relatively new to the program; he had less at stake when she started her campaign, and she's getting real work done. There hasn't been this much good tension in the air since the first years of the SGC; things are happening.  
>Yes, Woolsey notes, but her "campaign" has cost Atlantis her 304 fleet, as the Apollo's tour of duty is being cut short to "better protect earth's interests in the Milky Way".<br>Fox nods, grave once more. Some of that is doubtlessly politics, but the Lucian Alliance has been growing bolder; a full out attack on Icarus base, reconnaissance on Earth's bases, he shakes his head. Earth's time in the limelight is coming to an end, and Kamini promises to take back the initiative. Pride is a powerful thing, especially when it comes to the leaders of their nations. He thinks a good deal of her success is because she appealed to that particular trait.  
>Woolsey says he didn't know it was getting that bad; he'd heard about Icarus, but it seemed like an isolated incident.<br>Unfortunately, no. Still, Fox says more brightly, the city is equipped with a ZPM, and the Tria is due to be re-commissioned in a few months. Anyways, their orders are to lay low and keep tabs on the Wraith, prod them in the right direction if they look like their getting back on their feet, and keep searching the Lantian database for any and all useful technologies. Within those constraints, she's practically written them a blank check for how they want to achieve their objectives.  
>The sound of the alarm interrupts him as the door locks. The PA system comes on line announcing a quarantine lock-down, and advising everyone to remain calm, causing the two leaders to look at each other, puzzled.<p>

6 Days Earlier  
>Throwing his bag on a cot without looking back, a grizzled, middle aged man walks through his quarters to the balcony. Leaning against the railing, he looks around at the bright orange sky and the nearly purple hue thrown up by the water. Smirking, he leans over the railing to look directly down at the city pier below.<br>As he straightens out, his radio turns on, identifying him as Vladimir Zaitzov, the operator on the other end informs him that Colonel Sheppard expects to see him in his office at the earliest possible time.  
>And where exactly would the Colonel's office be? Asks Zaitzov in a thick Russian accent, amused at the fact that the operator expected him to know this, having just arrived in Atlantis.<p>

1200 Hours  
>A medical gurney speeds through Atlantis's corridors, the noise echoing form the deserted space. At it's foot, Dr. Cole - clad in an orange hazmat suit - is calling instructions into her earpiece, asking whether the stasis chambers are ready when the gurney's occupant lurches upward.<br>Nearly crashing as they stop against a wall, the medics move to restrain the patient, who is revealed to be Amelia Bates, overcome with rage. As they pin her to the wall, Cole swiftly injects her with a sedative, helping to hold her down until she's unconscious.  
>When she stops moving, they stretch her out on the gurney and continue on their way.<p>

When they arrive in the stasis chamber room, the pathologist, Dr. Biro, also in a hazmat suit, moves to ask what happened, but Cole tells him to get a stasis chamber ready this instant, the sedative may not last long. As they grab her and awkwardly move her, we see that the room's pods are already occupied, Ronon, Teyla and Keller are already on ice along with a handful of others, with Sheppard bullying McKay into one of the pods.  
>Cole and Biro try to prop the unconscious Bates in the pod, but she keeps sliding out when a scientist working nearby spots them and leans over, hitting a few controls and causing Amelia's body to float up. It's a suspension field she explains, and tells them to get back, activating the pod.<p>

Is that it? Asks Sheppard.  
>No, Kanaan and a few Athosians are being flown in by jumper, and they've sent teams to New Athos, seems like that's it for the immediate worst cases, they at least bought themselves some breathing space with the stasis pods, says Biro.<br>Sheppard nods and tells them to walk with him. Leaving behind two techs to deal with Kannan and any others that may arrive.

In the control room, Fox and Wolsey are busy coordinating over the radios when Sheppard and Biro walk in. Fox notices first, and motions for Woolsey to finish, before waving them into the conference room and sealing the door against the hectic atmosphere of the control room.  
>Fpx asks if somebody will tell him what's going on, glaring at Biro.<br>The virologist collapses onto one of the chairs. From the state of various patients, it looks like it may have been brought back that nice tropical planet where everything tries to eat you. Symptoms begin with hunger pangs, increased aggression, and paranoia. It's not exactly 28 Days Later, but it's as close as you can get in real life.  
>They should immediately recall all the the off-world teams; if any of them were infected when they went out, it could rapidly spread beyond Atlantis. It could be the start of a galactic pandemic, and he recommends they inform Todd immediately to see if the Wraith can do anything.<br>The doors to the room slide open and Chuck leans in, telling them they better have a look at something.

He was looking through the various alerts that came up when the quarantine first came into effect and there's a very high priority one about some kind of Wraith bio-weapon.  
>Biro's expression grows more concerned as he skims the warning, and asks Chick to forward it and all attached files to his lab. Turning back to Sheppard and Fox, he says they need to parcel up all personnel up and secure them in fortified positions, where they can't get out, the virus will gradually subvert an infectee until they begin to fight against the rest of the Atlantis personnel until everyone is either dead or infected. Excusing himself, he says he needs to look the data in more detail, he'll send them a report once he's read it over, in the meantime, he needs to get people working on combing the database for the relevant medical data.<br>Alright, says Fox, start organizing the men into search teams, have them get all the civilians together. Turning to Woolsey, Fox asks if they could compile a list of secure locations.  
>And somebody, Fox says, needs to get him a gate connection to one of the dead drop sites for Todd; they need to get a message to him!<p>

6 Days Earlier  
>Tying back his unruly hair as he walks along, Zaitzov stops a passing man to asks him for directions before continuing on, finally reaching Sheppard's office. Palming the door control, he gives Sheppard a sloppy salute before letting himself in. Lieutenant Vladimir Zaitzov, reporting for duty. He adds a "Sir" - barely.<br>Not bothering to get up if Zaitzov isn't interested in discipline, Sheppard tells him to sit down. He'll speak frankly, because he doesn't have time for anything else right now. He gestures to the expansive sea of paperwork on his desk. Zaitzov was assigned to his team without his input on the matter, and while he doesn't like it, he's not going to take it out on him. However, it's his responsibility to make sure that the team can work together, and Zaitzov's record - while lacking any overt reprimands - seems to say that he's managed to pick a fight with almost every commanding officer he's had. So is there anything Sheppard should know?  
>Taking Zakarov's silence as answer enough, he leans back. Whatever it is, as long as it doesn't affect his performance here, Sheppard doesn't care. Team briefing is at 1500 hours that afternoon. Reaching into his desk, Sheppard pulls out an AR-1 patch and puts it in front of Zaitzov, then gets up to shake his hand, welcoming him to the Pegasus galaxy.<p>

1300 Hours  
>Biro is hunched over a microscope, examining infected cells, when an assistant taps him on the shoulder and says doctor Becket is here, pointing to a slim Chinese scientist with the name "Becket" printed on a piece of paper taped to his jacket.<br>Greeting him with a quick handshake, Biro apologizes for the inconvenience, but with doctor Keller indisposed, Becket's the leading authority on Wraith genetic engineering.  
>Well yes -, Becket begins, but gives a small cough as he tries to talk with another man's vocal cords. He apologizes that he's simply not used to the Communication stones.<br>Biro says that there's a lot of data to go through, moving to his workstation and bringing up a representation of the virus organisms and various spreadsheets of data. He says that the virus shares characteristics with the one that infected Keller previously (The Seed), which combined with the data dumps from the database confirms it's origin and give some tips for dealing with them. The problem is that most involve nanotech treatments, which they obviously don't have.  
>Oh dear, whispers Carson, they haven't any time to waste then.<p>

6 Days Earlier  
>As AR-1 sits around the briefing room table, Zaitzov's absence is conspicuous. Looking down at his watch, Sheppard mutters what the hell could be so important that he's late for his first team debriefing.<br>Ronon slams his fist on the table causing both to jump, if Fox had the gall to force some lackey into the team, then at least the moron should show some respect, or does he think that because he was planted by the general like some flag he's better than everyone else?  
>Sheppard tells him to relax, and makes to touch his radio when Zaitzov walks in, obviously in a bad mood. Not saying hello, he grabs a chair and drops into it, a metaphorical black cloud hovering above his silent form.<br>Ronon gruffly asks where he's been all this time, not hiding his dislike.  
>This sets off Zaitzov who says that he's been deeling vid da team's former insufferable zientist, who seems to have an opinion on every azpect of Zaitzov'z personality, dezpite never having met him. In fact, he vas so adamant in exprezing zoze opinions zat he only shut up ven Zaitzov's fist stopped ze passage of air down his vindpipe!<br>He punched McKay in the face? Asks Shepard.  
>McKay's always had a tendency towards unpleasantness, but this seems a bit much, muses Teyla.<br>Oho, if only, exclaims Zaitzov, ze veasel vas too var gone to realise vat he vas doing, because he vent on and tackled Zaitzov. Zat moron is looky a pair of marines broke ap za fight ven dey did or he vould have given ze good doctor a lot more zan a broken nose!  
>Putting his head between his hands, Sheppard lets out a long sigh.<p>

1300 Hours  
>In the present, coming to a stop next to the cafeteria doors, Sheppard slides his hand across the panel and he and Zaitzov enter the room. A dozen or so people occupy the room, split roughly down the middle between a few that are standing back near the door, and half that are stuffing themselves from the cupboards behind the counter.<br>No wonder America has the highest obesity rate int the world, Zaitzov mutters as he raises his stunner, just in case.  
>Ignoring him, Sheppard calls out, asking them to stop, and moves forward. When the people don't respond except for a few sidelong glances and growls, Sheppard frowns and makes to grab one of their shoulders asking what he hell is going on, but the person whips around and tackles him, his face bearing an insane expression as he actually bites down on Shepard's arm, piercing the azmat suit.<br>As he rolls on the floor, trying to get him off, more violence takes place int the background and Vladimir stuns the rest of the eaters and then pistol whips the one attacking Sheppard, throwing it back and stunning it once it's no longer in contact with Sheppard.  
>Panting, Sheppard pull himself into a sitting position, holding his bleeding arm. Zombies, twice in as many weeks. He mutters how much he really hates zombies.<p>

In his old lab on Atlantis, Becket looks up from the cultures he's been overseeing with a sigh. It's no use, none of the treatments they've administered have done any good in the end. This is not ordinary Wraith virus, and Becket simply doesn't have the expertise to deal with it; he mainly specialized in splicing Wraith and Human DNA for Michael.  
>Not looking up form his own work, Biro asks if they could turn the virus against itself: the Ancient DNA manipulation machine (Tao of Rodney) is operational, and if they could reprogram the virus into a benign version that only attacked the malignant strain-<br>It's an interesting idea, Beckett responds, but nigh impossible to put into practice without a better understanding of the virus' structure, which has mutated far from any of the strains the Lantians have on record, even with Ancient equipment.  
>Maybe, Biro pushes, but what choice do they have? The virus is deigned to overpower the immune system, and it was designed to fight off Lantian medical technologies, so he doubts their own immune boosters will do much, and since they don't have any real nanotech medical capability, a retrovirus is their only option.<p>

In the control room, chaos reigns as people call in from all over the city reporting similar incidents to what Sheppard just experienced. Fox looks on the activity in tight lipped concentration, then tells everyone to be quiet. All right, from now on, he is declaring a state of emergency, limited supplies of drugs that they have are hereby to be used only to maintain the operational status of the military contingent, all soldiers are authorized to use force to get the civilians to comply with the movement orders. Lets do it people, there's no time to lose!  
>Woolsey is at his side in a second, asking what he thinks he's doing. But the general says this is now a military matter; there is a potential foothold situation, and he is going to do his best to keep it contained and save as many as he can, so is Woolsey going to stand there and complain about having his civilian sensitivities stepped on, or help?<p>

1400 Hours  
>In the DNA manipulation lab, Biro and Carson have set up a temporary work area with the help of two assistants. A petri dish rests on the pedestal.<br>OK, here's to Occam's razor saving the day, says Carson. He hits the button, enveloping the sample in blue light for a second.  
>On the screen behind it, diagrams of the culture turn from red to black, and Carson and Biro both move to stand above it, waiting to see if any complications arise with baited breath.<br>Suddenly, black parts of tissue begin rapidly turning red.  
>What's happening asks Carson, but Biro is already looking at his laptop, replaying the change. It looks like the virus has a lot of safeguards and redundancies, turning off it's offensive capabilities worked for a bit before it repaired itself.<br>Damn, Carson says, rubbing his eyes. OK, maybe they can trick it into attacking itself.

Sheppard and Zaitzov have just finished guiding the civilians from the cafeteria, many of whom are dragging stunned colleagues who have been tied up, into some sort of large auditorium. Sheppard apologizes for their treatment, but they don't have any choice, and locks the door down behind them.  
>Immediately, Chuck's voice comes over the radio, telling them they have to escort Doctor Cole and her medical staff to the control tower, as well as any and all relevant supplies they need to bring with them.<br>Sheppard asks what's going on, and Chuck says that the general is restricting the drug treatment to military personnel so they can relocate all the civilians before they get too out of control.  
>They're just abandoning them? Sheppard immediately tries to call Fox, but the line is too busy, so he motions for Vladimir to follow him as he continues to try and get through on his way to the infirmary.<p>

Chuck cringes at the volume of the voice on the other end of the radio and turns down the volume. The message is from one of the sweeper teams, requesting immediate reinforcements, he has unidentified hostiles and they can't hold them back- the voice is cut off abruptly, and a faint gurgle and hiss is heard before the radio goes dead in a growl and a hiss of static.  
>Hand shaking, Chuck swallows before he calls Fox.<p>

3 Days Earlier  
>On the Anchorage mainland, the terrain is rocky and barren, and the horizon is defined by the plain of rocks that have been cut into tall pillars by erosion. Diving in among this natural labyrinth, we see Zaitzov and Teyla running with paintball guns, darting around and over fallen pillars.<br>Yelling into her radio, Teyla asks Sheppard where he is, and gets a rushed response about being pinned, they could really use a hand. She tells him to hang on, they're not far.  
>The two run out between two ridges of rock when they hear the sounds of paintball gun fire echoing of the stone walls and they slow down.<br>Looking at the sheer stone walls as he grips hers gun, Teyla pants that it's the perfect place for an ambush, if they can lure their opponents through there, they can set up a killing corridor.  
>That's why the other team is already here! Screams Zaitzov and he pulls Teyla in front of him as enemy fire rakes across their position, covering her back in bright yellow paint. Firing off his own burst to keep the sniper from getting a good shot, he takes off and promptly takes a shot in the back.<br>Grimacing, he sits down, signaling that he's out. From her own position, Teyla gives him a cold stare.

1420 Hours  
>Sheppard and Zaitzov have joined up with a few marines as they escort the medical personnel, Sheppard has taken off his Hazmat suit and his arm is bandaged where he was bitten. Fox calls in, asking whether he's free, and Sheppard replies that the medical staff are almost to the central tower.<br>Fox says hat he'll send a few people to meet them, he has a pressing issue he needs Sheppard to take care of. He replays the last message over the radio and orders Sheppard to take a team and go check it out, the use of lethal force is authorized.  
>Sheppard frowns and asks Fox if that's necessary, these are their own people.<br>Fox doesn't care, they attacked and from the sound of it killed major Michel's team, so Sheppard can try to minimize damage if possible, but he's not having his men die because of screwed up rules of engagement. He cuts the connection.  
>Sheppard yells at the marines to join him and tells the medical personnel to go ahead, they're not far now.<br>Taking one look around at the faces around him, he nods and heads off, beginning to explain as they move out.

Biro yells and smashes his fist into the ancient control panel, smashing some optical ships and cutting himself. Dammit! He clutches his hand. He's lost track of how many times this *******ed virus has wormed it's way of of dying.  
>Looking at the startled faces of Carson and his assistants, he seems to become aware of his actions and swallows. Must he the virus, he mutters, it's starting to get to him.<br>Carson's mouth twists into a grimace. They can't do this, it's too complex, they need outside help. Calling Fox on the radio, he gives a brief report on their progress, and says they can't do it alone, they need a specialist, he recommends they contact Todd to see if he can help.  
>Fox says they're already trying to contact him, there's always the possibility that one of their teams may have spread the pathogen off world, in which case... he doesn't have to finish the sentence.<p>

1440 Hours  
>As Sheppard and his team make their way down one of the city's lower corridors, the light flicker and go out. Taping his earpiece, he asks what's happening.<br>In the control room, warnings begin popping up, and Fox and Woolsey rush over to see what's happening. Chuck explains that systems are shutting down in Sheppard's area. The power is getting there, but something's stopping it from getting to it's final destination.

He's right, whispers Zaitzov, looking at an ancient scanner.  
>If this virus is anything like what they saw take over Keller (The Seed), then power will only make it stronger, Sheppard tells Fox. Do they read any life signs in the vicinity?<br>Chuck buts in to say that the life signs detectors int the city seem to have trouble locking on to the infected expedition members.  
>Another technician interrupts him in the control room to say that diagnostics check out, so it looks like their actually being jammed.<br>Be advised, Chuck tells Sheppard, infectees seem to posses electronic jamming capability.  
>Sheppard swears. Alright, if they can jamm they can receive, they're going to radio silence, will report anything interesting.<p>

The team advances by leapfrog, Flashlights probing the darkness, and one of the marines whispers hat they could really use some thermals or NVGs, but Sheppard says they don't have time to go back for them.  
>There's interference on the life signs detector, Vladimir hisses from behind, no clear read, but at least two sources of movement around the bend.<br>Sheppard motions or silence, then directs them with hand signal. Then cautiously advances around the corner.  
>Something roars at him, and the rest of the marines rush forward to see something that was once a man charging their commander on all fours. It's elongated forelimbs and unhinged jaw pumping as they open fire into it by instinct.<br>But as they do, Sheppard catches sight of something in his peripheral vision and swings his gun upward catching one of two similar mutants jumping at them from the ceiling with a burst before they slam into the marine contingent.  
>The conflict immediately turns into a brutal melee. Gunfire and combat knives ad fists mix in the darkness, illuminated briefly by errant flashlight beams, before the it suddenly stops.<br>As the dying sounds of the subverted expedition members fade away, their replaced by a few curses and moans of pain.  
>Alright, sound off, who's alive? Calls Sheppard, swinging his flashlight over the hall.<br>As soldiers declare their status, Zaitzov suddenly tell s them all to shut up, then turns to the side, as if listening.  
>Faint sounds begin to be discerned, and the marines automatically bring their weapons up. Slowly, Zaitzov's gaze comes to rest further down the hallway, where the sounds of a strange gait can be made out.<br>Shepard silently signals his men to move the injured out of the way and take cover, moving behind a liquid filled column that's dark without power.  
>The tension builds as the sounds get louder, and soldiers grip their weapons tighter.<br>Suddenly the creature shows itself, jumping out of the shadows beyond the turn in the corridor.  
>Powerful arms and legs tense as the half-gorilla, half-rhino creature takes a moment to asses the situation, then roars exposing teeth inside a jaw that would make an alligator flinch while the G-36 amounted on it's armored forehead like some twisted rhinoceros horn trains forward and the sound of a bolt actually being drawn back is heard before it charges, opening fire.<p> 


End file.
